All is Fair in Love and War
by SweetMandyB
Summary: Bella Swan is a freshman in college, rooming with Alice Cullen, the sister of notorious partier Edward Cullen. All human, rated M because I am paranoid. Better summary inside, Edward is OOC in the first part of the story. Sequels posted.
1. Getting to Know Alice

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight, that's Stephenie Meyer. **

_**Summary: Bella is a freshman at Dartmouth, and her roommate is Alice Cullen. Alice's older brother, Edward, is a junior. Edward is rich and a notorious player. Bella likes to read and loves class. What happens when they meet? Can Bella make Edward believe in relationships? Based on the relationship of Rory and Logan in Gilmore Girls. Edward is OOC in the first part of this story. AU, AH**_

**Bella's Point of View**

It was officially the first week of classes. So far, I love college. My roommate, Alice Cullen, is already one of my very best friends. She has a fairly serious boyfriend named Jasper. Judging by his thick accent, I'd say he is from somewhere in the western United States. Alice has lots of energy and loves to shop. I wonder, though, how we were matched up. Don't get me wrong; I've known her for a week, and I am so glad we are roommates. But when I was accepted into Dartmouth, I had to fill out this personality card that would match me with a roommate. Alice and I are polar opposites. I love going to class and I love reading. Alice loves to shop and dance. Sometimes I feel like the housing divisions of colleges want to see you fight, just for their entertainment.

My mom, Renee, also fell in love with Alice. My parents were divorced, and Renee was the one to help me move into school. Renee and my step-father, Phil, lived in Phoenix, and my dad lived in Forks, Washington.

I was, at this point, majoring in English. Alice was majoring in art, and Jasper was majoring in American History.

I was walking towards my morning English class, enjoying the fall weather of New Hampshire. I loved all of my classes. This weekend Alice was threatening to not only take me to one of the parties, but also to take me shopping to find something cute to wear. Ugh, I am 18, I can dress myself. I sighed aloud. It was going to be a long semester.

After my classes, I walked back to the dorm, to meet Alice. We'd made plans to go out to lunch, just the two of us. So far, we'd only gotten to know each other with Jasper, but we wanted to have some girl talk time. And by "we" I mean Alice. As soon as my key hit the door, Alice flung it open.

"Bella! Are you ready to go? I'm so excited!" She clapped, bouncing up and down. I laughed. That was the other thing about Alice. She was really, really perky. And bouncy.

"Yes, let me just put my bag down and grab my purse". I set my backpack on my desk chair, and bent down to grab my purse. I grabbed my cell phone out of the pocket of my messenger bag, throwing it into my purse, turning back to Alice.

"Alright. I'm ready". I smiled at her. "Do you want me to drive, or do you want to?" I asked. It then occurred to me that I wasn't even sure if Alice had a car here.

"I'll drive! I think I'm parked closer!" She said as she took my hand and practically dragged me out of our room, down the stairs of our dorm, and into the back parking lot to a yellow Porsche.

"Whoa". I breathed, as she jumped into the driver's side.

"I know, right?! Graduation present from my dad!" She laughed, starting the car. I closed my jaw, and got in the car.

We went to a nice deli and sat outside on the patio.

"So Alice, where are you from again?" I asked as we sat down with our food.

"I am from Seattle. How about you?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee. _Yikes_. _Caffeine? Really?_

"I'm from Forks, an hour or so outside of Seattle, actually." I was surprised, but glad when she said she was from the Seattle area. By the way she dressed, and the car she drove, I thought that maybe she was from Los Angeles or something.

"Do you have any siblings?" She asked me.

"No, I don't. It's just me. How about you?" she rolled her eyes at my question.

"Unfortunately. I have two older brothers: Edward and Emmett. Emmett is a senior here, and Edward is a junior. Emmett is very big brother-y, and _very_ protective of me. Edward…well, he's Edward." She stabbed her salad with a fork and took a bite. "My parents don't exactly approve of the way Edward behaves here. He drinks a lot and he goes through girls like I go through shoes. He doesn't care much about what I do, not because he doesn't care, but he's just too drunk to understand what's going on most of the time". She rolled her eyes, and took another bite of her salad, before starting to talk again.

"Actually, Emmett and Edward have a house off campus. They're having a party Saturday night if you want to go." She suggested off-hand, like it was no big deal. I immediately searched my brain for a good solid excuse to get out of a party.

"That's okay, I have to study. My English class is a lot of work" I held up my hand as she tried to cut me off. "But, I promise that the weekend after that, I will go to a party with you." I knew she wouldn't let it go unless I went, but Jake, my best friend from Forks, was coming to visit this weekend, and I didn't want to commit to a party, because I knew he wouldn't want to go. Alice told me about her parents, Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle was an important doctor in Chicago, and Edward and was Pre-Med to follow in Carlisle's very large footsteps. Emmett was a business major. Esme was a nurse. I told her briefly about Charlie and Renee, and even less about Phil. I could tell she was interested, but I didn't like talking about it. I wasn't a fan of attention. I was much more comfortable when she was talking. She told me that Emmett was the exact opposite of Edward, and he had a fantastic longtime girlfriend named Rosalie that went to Yale. We finished lunch, and headed back to campus. I got a head start on my reading, and Alice went over to Jasper's. I must have nodded off, because I woke up to my cell phone ringing. I checked the display, and saw that it was Jake, my best friend.

"Jake!" I exclaimed, excited to be hearing from him.

"Bella!" He echoed my tone, laughing.

"How's UW?" I asked, sitting up, taking a sip of the water bottle I'd set on the table.

"Great! I met a girl already. Her name is Kristin. You'll love her".

"Jake, you've been there for a week. How do you know I'll love her already?"

"Because she's amazing, and she's an English major just like you."

"Ah, okay. Got it." I laughed. Suddenly, I was hit with an overwhelming wave of homesickness. While I hated small town Forks, I would have given anything to be at UW with Jake.


	2. Meeting Edward

**IMPORTANT Authors Note: We finally meet Edward in this chapter. I want to warn you, he is completely out of character for awhile, but I promise you-the Edward we all know and love is hidden, and will be coming shortly. He's acting this way for a reason, and you will find out later in the story. I also have the outline for the story done, to prevent writers block, so the updates should be coming pretty quickly. Again, I don't own Twilight-that's all Stephenie Meyer. :) Read and review, please! Thanks again for all your story alerts already! I'm starting the next chapter right now, so that will be up later tonight. Enjoy, and thanks again! **

**Bella's POV. **

TGIF.

I was walking towards my last class of the day. I had a stack of library books in my arms that I had checked out of the library to start my research project. I am usually clumsy, but the big stack of books was throwing off my already terrible balance. I was walking, and then the next thing I know I was on the ground, spilling my books all over the sidewalk. I'd really love to tell you that I tripped over something, but I would be lying. As I tried to pick up my books as quickly as I could before too many people took notice, I saw a bronze haired, beautiful man helping me. His beauty was nearly inhuman.

"Oh, thanks, you don't have to…" I trailed off, completely embarrassed. I turned to see two sparkling green eyes staring back at me. I felt myself blush a deeper red than I was already. But this blush had nothing to do with the embarrassment of my clumsiness.

"It's really no problem", he smiled and I completely forgot who and where I was. He stood, and placed the rest of my books gently on top of the pile I was cradling in my arms.

"Hi, I'm Edward", he said, introducing himself. I barely heard him.

"Um…I-I-I'm Bella." I stammered, glad I was able to speak at all. He smiled.

_Jerk. _He obviously knew the effect he had on people and I was suddenly turned off by him. He must have quite the ego to be smiling at me like that. I wanted to slap that smug smile right off his face.

"You know, I live off campus and I'm having a party tomorrow night. It's at 1421 East Campus Drive. It starts at 8pm." He began to walk away, but then turned around quickly before I had the chance to move.

"Oh, and don't be bringing a date." He thought for a moment. "Unless it's another girl." He smiled again, and walked off. _Ugh. What a perv, _I thought, walking off to the English building.

What _really_ bothered me was the _way_ he had invited me to the party, like he expected me to go. Sure, he looked completely perfect, but his cocky personality cancelled that out.

Ha. Who am I kidding? No it didn't.

Suddenly, things began to click in my head, almost audibly. The boy I'd just had the pleasure of meeting could very well be Edward, Alice's brother that even she herself hadn't seemed that fond of. I made a mental note to ask her once I returned to our room.

At the beginning of class, Professor Bloom made an announcement that the admissions office was taking applications for campus tour guides and room hosts for prospective students. _Hey, I could do that!_ It would be easy money! So, after class, I stopped by the admissions department to pick up an application from the secretary. I'd have to clear the second part of the job with Alice first. As a host, I would have to show the student, and whomever came to campus with them around, and then the student would stay overnight in our room, and then attend classes with me the next day. Easy enough.

Luckily, Alice was alone in our room when I returned.

"Hey roomie!" She called. She was on her laptop, writing an e-mail.

"Hey, Ali! How has your day been so far?" I asked, flopping onto our futon.

"Great! How about yours?" She turned her chair so she was facing me.

"Pretty good. Hey, I think that I met your brother today." I said, trying to sound nonchalant, playing with the hem of my shirt.

"I'm sorry. Whatever he said that offended you, I'm sorry". She said, looking concerned.

"How did you know he said something that offended me?" I laughed.

"Bell, in high school, people wanted to be friends with me because my brother was 'hot'", she made air quotes around the word, sounding disgusted before she continued, "but then stopped being my friend later because he was so mean to everyone. He's quite the ladies man, but I have no idea how he gets girls." She laughed, and it seemed to me that she resented her brother a little bit. "But seriously, Bella, what did he say to you?" She seemed legitimately concerned.

"Well, I was walking to English, and I tripped, spilling the books I was carrying onto the sidewalk, and he helped me pick them up, and then invited me to his party. And by invited I mean he practically demanded I come and told me I couldn't bring a date unless it was another girl". I told her, honestly. It didn't sound to me like she would be too surprised. She wasn't. She groaned loudly, throwing her head back in frustration.

"He's such a jerk. I'm sorry. Don't pay attention to him". Alice reassured me. I laughed a little.

"Don't ever apologize for someone else's behavior, Alice" I scolded softly. She smiled in thanks.

"By the way, I applied for a job with the Admissions Office, and I wanted to know if it's cool with you if we're hosts. You'd get money, too."

"Sure, Bella! That sounds like fun!" She squealed.

"Thanks, Alice". I said, sincerely.

"So how are things with Jasper?" I asked, changing the subject.

"He's good. I'm thinking I may not go to that party. I'd rather have a night in…" she said. I thought for a moment.

"You two are welcome to come out with Jake and me! He's coming into town this weekend to visit. I'm not sure what we're doing yet, but you are welcome to come with." I offered.

"Thanks, Bella. We may take you up on that."

"Please do!" I encouraged. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." I told her, standing to answer the door. As I opened the door, my jaw dropped to the floor. The face on the other side lit up, but looked confused.

"Oh. Hello again!" the voice said, ever so smugly.

Before I could even reply, Alice came behind me to see who had me so speechless.


	3. Jake's Visit

**DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. **

**Bella's POV**

"Edward". Alice snapped.

The way Alice said Edward's name was slightly frightening to me. It made me think she had been mad at him before she even heard about my run in with him earlier today.

"Hey Al, I didn't know this girl was your roommate! We met this morning, didn't we Becky?" he said, smiling at me, stepping around Alice and I, settling himself onto the futon.

How many girls had he bumped into today?

"It's Bella". I snapped.

"Oh, my mistake. Please forgive me," he said, flashing a brilliant smile. _Ugh, Bella, don't fall for it. He's obviously used to getting away with things like this with girls. _Well, he wasn't getting away with it with me. Instead of responding, I just raised my eyebrows and walked away, sitting at my desk. He had obviously come looking for Alice and I wanted him out of here as soon as possible. I took out the application for the Admissions job, and pretended to concentrate hard on it.

"Alice, mom keeps calling me, she wants me to come home to help her around the house. Can you call and cover for me? Lie if you need to? Thanks sis". He said quickly, kissed Alice on the cheek, and then jogged out of our room and back down the stairs. Alice just stood there, as flabbergasted as I was. Then, a wicked grin came over her face, and for just a moment, I was scared. She grabbed her cell phone off her desk, and scrolled through her contacts, finding the number she'd been looking for. She hit send, and held the phone to her ear, biting back laughter. I heard a woman pick up on the other end, and then realized what the grin on her face was about.

"Hey Mom! It's Alice!" She exclaimed into the phone, listening to her mom's response.

"Yeah, he actually just stopped by. He wanted me to tell you that he's too busy man-whoring the campus to come home and help you out. However, Jasper and I would _love _to come and help you out._" _She paused for another moment, smiling at her mother's response, and winked at me. Her evil plan had actually worked.

"Mom, of course Jasper doesn't mind. It was his idea". I laughed out loud, clamping my hand over my mouth so that Mrs. Cullen couldn't hear me. I fell onto my hands and knees in laughter, and Alice had to turn her back from me to keep her laughter quiet. It was obvious what she was doing, to me at least. She wanted her mother to like Jasper more than Edward, and based on the conversation and what I could hear of Esme's responses to Alice it was working brilliantly.

Turns out, Jasper was more than happy to head home this weekend to help Mrs. Cullen out. Furthermore, he was actually ashamed he hadn't been the one to think of it. Southern gentlemen. Why couldn't _he_ have a brother? It was easy for the Cullen's to go home at a moments notice, as they had a private plan at their disposal anytime they wanted it. Jasper helped Alice pack a few things (and by a few things I mean a few suitcases) for the weekend and they left quickly. I was relieved that Jake and I would have the room to ourselves; I wanted to get details on this girl of his, and I knew he wouldn't say much in public.

Jake called me when he pulled into campus and I ran down the steps to meet him outside my dorm. I nearly fell at least 3 times, and would have if I wouldn't have been holding tightly to the railing. I jumped into his waiting arms, squeezing him tightly. As soon as I was wrapped in his arms, all my feelings of homesickness melted away.

I gave Jake an abbreviated tour of campus, and showed him my dorm room. We went to dinner at a small café off campus that was popular with the students. It was an Irish pub, and was a lot of fun on a Friday night. He spent the entire time gushing about Kristin, telling me everything he knew about her. He was quite taken by her and I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Not really of her, because I certainly didn't want to date Jake. The mere thought made me shiver in disgust. He was like an older brother. But recently, I'd never had to share Jake. We were best friends and did almost everything together. It was obvious that once he began dating this girl, she would take my place as his best friend. Slowly, the homesickness that had melted away in Jake's presence began to creep back into my heart.

After dinner, Jake and I picked up a movie at Blockbuster and stopped by an ice cream shop for ice cream. We walked slowly back to my dorm, talking about classes and our professors.

"Oh! Bella!" He stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk laughing.

"What Jake?" I was startled, and a little concerned.

"I totally forgot to tell you about my roommate!" He chuckled, swatting at my upper arm playfully, walking again.

"Oh? What about him?" I was intrigued.

"Total freak show. He enjoys setting himself on fire. Oh, and his favorite movie is _The Notebook,_ and I wish I was kidding. At first, I thought it was just a line to get the ladies, but it is obviously not. He also has the names of his children picked out." By now, we were walking of the stairs of my dorm, both doubled over in laughter.

"Bella, I saved the best for last, when we were safely in your room", he said as I got my keys out, unlocking the door, and stumbled inside. We plopped down on the futon, and I sat against the arm of the futon, bringing my knees to my chest as I finished my ice cream.

"Alright. Tell me, I can't handle the suspense any longer." I laughed. What on earth could this roommate do that was worse than all of the other stuff?

"When he laughs…" Jake had to pause the story until his voice was under control through the laughter. "He has to whisper 'moose poop' to stop!" (**A/N: **I actually met someone this summer that did that, and it was hilarious)

Oh. My. Gosh. I burst out laughing, nearly falling off the futon. Spending the weekend with Jake was just what I needed. He was a wonderful friend; I just wish that our colleges were closer together.

Monday morning, my cell phone rang as I was getting ready for class. Alice still hadn't returned, but she'd texted me late last night to say that she'd be home late Monday night.

"Hello?" I was glad I'd had tea earlier, so that my voice was no longer heavy with sleep.

"Hi! Is this Isabella Swan?" a friendly, unfamiliar voice asked.

"Yes, this is she". I was curious. Who would be calling me at 9am on Monday?

"Hi, this is Sandy from Admissions. We wanted to offer you a job!" She said, excitedly.

"Great! Thank You!" I was so excited; I needed the money so badly.

Things were finally starting to look up. My best friend had just visited, I had an awesome roommate (who didn't whisper weird things to stop laughing), I loved my classes and now I even had a job.

**Next Chapter: Edward confronts Bella for standing him up. **


	4. Shattered

**Author's Note: I don't own Twilight. Thanks for all the wonderful reivews, and for your favorites and alerts. You make me want to write more! :) **

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. **

**Bella's POV**

Monday was such a great day. I actually woke up on time, got ready for class, went to class, and then began training for my new job in admissions. I grabbed my novel for my English class, and sat on the futon to wait for Alice. Several minutes later, she stormed into the apartment, and threw her stuff on the floor by her bed. She grabbed her cell phone and threw it at the wall next to my head, where it shattered into pieces and fell to the floor. Alice jumped as the tears began to escape her eyes. She sat next to me on the futon.

"Oh Bella, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you sitting there!" She threw her arms around me.

"It's okay, Alice! Are you okay?!" I was surprised. Alice was always so happy!

"Oh Bella," she sobbed into my shoulder. I just rubbed her back, and waited for her to speak. "Jasper and I got into a fight on the plane. He's been getting these phone calls from this girl in one of his classes, and she won't leave him alone. He finally agreed to go for coffee or something, as friends. But I know that she doesn't just want to be his friend. She wants to date him…" she trailed off.

"Oh Alice, I know that she probably wants to date Jasper, too. But, I also know that Jasper in madly in love with you." I promised her. She pulled back and gave me a small smile.

"I know he does, but I was tired on the plane, and I wanted to get back, especially after doing Edward's work all weekend…ugh, I am still so _mad _him! But anyway, I flipped out, and Jazz told me I was overreacting, and then I got even angrier. And that's when I stormed in and almost killed you with my cell phone". We both laughed a little then.

"It's going to be okay, Alice. I can tell you without a doubt in my mind, that if this girl tells Jasper her feelings, he will stop seeing her. He loves _you. _That will never change."

She hugged me again. "Thanks, Bella. You are like the sister I've never had".

I smiled in return. "You are like my sister, Alice. Now, dear sister, let's go get something to eat". She smiled and grabbed her purse.

"Lets skip the dining hall tonight and go out for pizza. My treat for almost killing you".

"No. I'll pay for my own, thank you." I smiled and grabbed my jacket, following her out the door.

The next day, I had my first official day at work. I was co-leading a tour with a girl named Angela Weber. The tour went pretty well, and it was easier than she thought it would be. She also knew more about the school than she thought she had. After the tour, I was supposed to meet the student that I was hosting for the night over by the fireplace of the admissions office. I was there early, so I stopped at the coffee cart for some coffee on my way over there. I saw Jasper and Alice out of the corner of my eye, making out on a bench. I smiled; glad to see that they had made up. There were several students waiting by the fireplace, so I asked the secretary for my hosting folder. She handed me the thin red folder, and I checked the list inside.

"Christy Gannon?" I called.

"Yes?" The girl that answered was sitting on a big leather chair, adjacent to the fireplace. She had long bronze hair that had soft, natural curls. She looked shy and uncomfortable.

"Hi!" I greeted, walking over to her. She stood as I approached. I held out my hand. "My name is Bella Swan. It's nice to meet you, Christy. Welcome to Dartmouth!"

"Thanks, Bella". She smiled back, and I helped her with her bags, and out the front doors.

"Don't worry; we don't have to walk far. My dorm is just across the street." I promised. She just smiled. She looked uncomfortable.

"So what do you want to major in, Christy?" I asked, hoping that she'd warm up to me so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable anymore.

"Um, I'm not sure yet. I can't decide. English maybe". I smiled.

"That's my major, too. I love it so far, but I've only been in school a few weeks."

"What do you want to do with it?" she asked, her face lightening a little.

"I'm not sure, I have a few things in mind. I really would love to write a book, and I would also like to teach someday, but at a higher level. Like a writing class in high school or college." I explained.

"That's cool. That's actually why I want to major in it. My cross-country coach was my English teacher. He's the one that got me interested in it." I smiled back at her.

We stepped into my dorm, and I quickly showed her around, but I knew that I would give her a more formal tour later. I showed her the front desk and the mailboxes and the security system to buzz guests in. She looked relieved when she saw that. We took the elevator up to my floor, and walked down to my room. I knocked twice before I unlocked it. Christy gave me a puzzled look.

"Oh, my roommate has a serious boyfriend. Knocking helps avoid awkward moments" I explained to her with a laugh, as she nodded in understanding. Luckily, I'd known to do this from the beginning, but Alice and Jasper never did anything more than kiss. At least, not in our dorm room. The room was empty, when we walked in so I assumed that they were still making out on the bench. I folded out the futon, and put blankets on it, and showed her around a little. Our dorm room was connected to another dorm room by a bathroom, but there was no one in the room next to us, so she didn't have to worry about being walked in on or anything. I checked my watch. It was almost time for dinner.

"Alright, Christy, how about the social aspect of the campus? Want to see all the fun stuff?" I laughed. I knew she was intrigued by the libraries on campus, but there were a lot of fun places on campus as well that she would want to see. We set off to look around, and found Alice and Jasper on the way, who helped me show her around. It turned out to be a very fun night. We stopped by the student union and sat in for the karaoke contests for a little bit. It was hilarious. Jasper even pulled Christy on stage to do a duet with him. She looked like a tomato she was blushing so bad, but by the end of the song she was really into it. At the end of the night, Jasper walked us back to our dorm, and then the three of us fell asleep almost immediately.

The rest of the week passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was Friday again. I was walking to my last class of the day, texting Jake. He had his first "official" date with Kristin tonight (whatever that meant), and I wanted to wish him luck. As I pressed the send button, I walked right into someone's very hard chest. Before I fell to the ground, strong arms wrapped around my waist.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sor-" I stopped apologizing as I saw the owner of the chest. Edward.

"Bella. I'm surprised to see you. After you didn't show up at my party, I assumed you'd left town." He said, obviously offended that I had been here and didn't show up. _Ugh, how does his ego fit through a doorway?_

"I had plans". I snapped, stepping around him, slipping my phone back into my messenger bag. I hadn't made it three steps when he stepped back in front of me.

"I know you did. But, you obviously blew them off. I talked to all the girls at the party, and while I know I was drunk, I also know that I didn't see you". It took me a moment to understand that he thought my plans had been his party.

"I had a guest, and you said I couldn't bring a date." I snapped again, stepping around him once again, trying to get to class on time. I couldn't be late. This time, he just walked beside me, instead of blocking my path.

"I'll let it slide this time, but don't let it happen again". He warned with a dazzling smile.

For a moment, my anger faded, and I only wanted to wrap my arms around him. _Damn you. _I thought in my head, glaring at him.

"What? You look like you want to say something?" I wanted to slap that smug smile right off his face.

"No. This is my class". I snapped again, stepping into my classroom.

Why did Edward bring out this angry side of me? Yes, he annoyed me, and I hated him, but why was I so mean? I was never mean. He wasn't the first person like this that I'd met, but I had managed to be civil to the rest of them. Just before the teacher walked in, my phone buzzed, indicating I had a new text message. It was from a number I didn't recognize.

"Don't be embarrassed. Like I said. I'll forgive you this time. There's a party off campus tonight, I'll pick you up at seven. Edward." _How the hell did he get my phone number? _I put my cell phone under the desk so no one could see what I was doing once class started. I logged onto instant messenger from my cell phone and was relieved to see Alice was online. I quickly pulled up an instant message to her.

BellaSwan: Did you give your brother my phone number?

ACLoves2Shop: What? No! Why would I do that?

BellaSwan: I don't know. But on my way to class, I literally bumped into him, and FIRST OF ALL he FORGAVE me for blowing off his party, and then he followed me to class, totally smiled and made me forget I was mad at him, but only for a minute. Then, he sent me a text just now that said "Don't be embarrassed. Like I said, I'll forgive you this time. There's a party off campus tonight, I'll pick you up at seven." WHAT IS THAT?

ACLoves2Shop: WHAT? Bella, I'm so sorry. I don't know how he got your number. Don't worry about it, I will call him and straighten this out, but I won't tell him you told me anything. I'll just call him to tell him about home last weekend, and then casually drop the fact that You, Jazz and I have some kind of plans tonight. I'll come up with something. Don't worry. If all else fails, I'll call Emmett, and when he comes at seven we can play a prank and get him back. Emmett would love to help with that. But I have to run an errand, and you need to pay attention to your class. Talk to you after class. And don't worry. Love ya.

BellaSwan: Thanks Alice, love ya too.

He was going to be very, very sorry for this.


	5. Secrets

**DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer still owns Twilight. **

**Bella's POV**

As promised, Alice had handled the situation with Edward. Originally, Emmett agreed to play a prank on Edward, but he called Alice last minute and said that there was no need. Whatever he told Alice had made her angry and upset and she had gone over to talk to Edward, which was weird. She didn't like him anymore than I did, but I also knew that she loved him, he was her older brother, after all. I didn't press her about what had happened to make her and Emmett back off, but I knew that whatever it was had upset Edward, because I hadn't seen or heard from him since that text message, which had been a little over a month ago.

The last month had gone by quickly, and I loved my job more and more every day. Some of the prospective students that I'd hosted had even kept in touch through e-mail. It was a lot of fun and I was making a lot of friends, which was nice. I loved hanging out with Alice and Jasper, but it was nice to be making some of my own friends, too. Thanksgiving was rapidly approaching, and I needed to decide if I wanted to spend Thanksgiving in Phoenix or Forks. Alice had begged me to spend Thanksgiving with her family, but my parents would be beyond angry if I didn't see one of them for Thanksgiving. After talking about it with Jake at length, and after lots and lots of tears, I decided to see my dad for Thanksgiving, and I would spend Christmas with my mom and New Years with Alice and the Cullen's. The Cullen's had this big New Years Party every year, and Alice insisted that I go. I was going to stay with my dad for that, too. I had bought my plane tickets already, and I felt good about my final decisions.

I felt slightly guilty that the person I was most excited to see over Thanksgiving was Jake. Kristin was now his girlfriend and things were going well. I wouldn't get to meet her over break though, as her family lived in Southern California and she was going there for break.

I had the day off of work and decided to hang out in the dorm room and get some reading done. When I got out of the shower, there was a lengthy e-mail from my mom, and I knew that I should answer it before she thought I was dead or something. I slipped on jeans and a hoodie, and began typing my response. Alice had spent the night at Jasper's, so I decided to turn on some music while I worked on my e-mail. As I hit the send button, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I called. The door opened slowly, and I saw that it was Edward.

"Oh, hey. Is Alice here?" he asked, softly. _What the hell is the matter with him? Is he actually being decent?_

"No. She isn't actually. I think she spent the night with Jasper". If he was going to be pleasant, then so would I. I saw something flash across his eyes.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Oh. No. I talked to her a few minutes ago and she said she was on her way. Do you think I could wait in here?" he looked a little nervous to still be standing in the doorway.

"Oh, sure, yeah, come on in". I said, motioning to the couch, a little surprised at the change in attitude.

"Thank you." He sat down, and played with his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. He was wearing jeans and a Dartmouth sweatshirt, and looked like he hadn't slept in days. Why was he acting so nervous? Since when was he uncomfortable around girls?

"Um, are you alright?" I asked, against my better judgment. He looked a little surprised at my question, but recovered quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just really need to talk to my sister about something". Wow.

"Oh, okay. Do you want me to call her?" I offered, taking aback by his response.

"No, thank you though. Like I said, I talked to her a few minutes ago, and she said she'd be here soon." I almost fell off my chair when he said "thank you". Before I could respond, Alice breezed in the door.

"Oh, hey guys. Sorry you beat me here, Edward. Let me just change and we can go." She smiled at her brother, grabbed an outfit and hurried into the bathroom. The look on Edward's face said he didn't really want to talk, so I went back to answering e-mails. Alice emerged from the bathroom a short time later, and Edward stood.

"Can we please go now, Alice?" he asked, anxious.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Let's go." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he was on his feet hurrying towards the door. Then, just as his hand hit the doorknob, he turned back to me.

"Bye, Bella. Thanks for letting me wait in here for Alice." He said, quietly.

"Anytime, Edward". I said, quickly. He gave me a small smile and left the room.

"Weird, huh?" Alice whispered to me, as she followed behind him. "I'll probably be back late tonight". She told me as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. _Something was definitely going on. _When Alice finally returned, it was after I had gone to bed. I was too tired to wake up and ask her about what had happened earlier, so I rolled over and fell back asleep.

Two days later, I had finished up with work, and was in the best mood I'd been in in a long time. I had almost reached the door of my building, when I saw a girl sitting on the bench in front of it. She had long, strawberry blonde hair and she was glaring at me. The saying "if looks could kill" popped into my head at that moment. As I approached, my eyes adverted to the concrete, and I hoped that she wouldn't bother me.

"Excuse me, are you Bella Swan?" Her smooth voice asked, but I heard hatred behind it.

"Yes. Can I help you?" I asked softly. I was sure she could smell my fear at this point.

"You can, actually." A smug smile spread across her face. "You stay away from Edward Cullen." She warned, towering over me.

"What do you mean? He is my roommate's brother." Seeing Edward was inevitable. I couldn't help it. After all, what was she going to do? Have me killed?

"I know that. But you stay away from _him_." She warned again, there was venom in her voice.

"Okay?" I was more than confused.

"Edward is mine, you stay away from him. Are we clear?"

"Yes. But, I don't understand-you know that I'm not with Edward?" I was seriously confused. Did she think that I _wanted _to date him? I didn't want this girl mad at me.

"Oh, I know that" she laughed, as if my idea was insane. "Edward is dating me."

Ha! Yeah, her and every other girl on campus, with the exception of Alice and I.

"Oh, okay." Was my only response. How exactly did she want me to respond? Damn my need to please people!

"Well, it was nice to meet you-," I paused, realizing I didn't know her name.

"Tanya." She smiled. Except, it wasn't a friendly smile. In horror movies, it's the smile that the killer has on his face before he kills you. And she abruptly walked away. I stood there for a moment, completely flabbergasted. What the hell just happened?

I told a very shocked Alice what had happened when I got back up to our room and she apologized profusely.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. She's actually part of what's going on with Edward. It's not really my story to tell, so I can't tell you what happened, but Emmett and Edward are trying to take care of it." The tone in her voice made me wonder if they'd hired a hit man or something. My eyes went wide, and Alice burst into laughter.

"No, I'm sorry; don't worry, not like that". She laughed, and this time, I laughed with her.

It was finally Thanksgiving break, and I was rushing to finish packing. Alice was driving me to the airport in ten minutes, and I wasn't finished packing. She was taking the family jet back to Seattle, and had asked me if I wanted to go with them, but since I'd already bought the ticket; I declined, and was glad to have the excuse. I didn't want to have to spend hours on a plane with Edward.

"You ready, Bell?" Jasper asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah. Sorry!" I zipped up my duffel quickly, and before I could, Jasper grabbed it, and smiled at me.

"Thanks, Jazz". I said, grabbing my messenger back from the floor and following me out of the room. I locked the door behind me. Alice was already waiting at the car.

We got to the airport in one piece, and I said goodbye to Alice and Jasper at the gate. They were still waiting on Edward, so I got to eat dinner with them at the airport before catching my flight. I got on the plane and my excitement began to bubble up. I was bouncing up and down in my seat like Alice. Jake was picking me up at the airport, and I couldn't wait to see him. As soon as we landed, I shot up in my seat, and gathered my things. I was one of the first people off the plane, and I ran right into Jacob's strong, outstretched arms. I held him for a long time, until we both couldn't breathe from the force of our hug.

"I missed you" I whispered, tears slipping down my face.

"I missed you too, Bells". He kissed my forehead.

We made it down to baggage claim, and he carried my bags to his VW Rabbit. He gushed about Kristin the whole ride back, and we finally pulled into the driveway.

"Welcome home, Bells". He said. It felt good to finally be home.

**Next Chapter: Edward's reputation is in question when he bumps into Bella at the library. Bella's prospective student has a massive crush, but on who? **

_**AUTHORS NOTE: Thanks for all your reviews so far. Also, if you were hoping for some pranks, don't worry, you will get them soon. **_


	6. Thanksgiving

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight or Gilmore Girls. The library scene was inspired by a scene from Season Five of Gilmore Girls. I took one of Logan's lines word-for-word, and have cited it. :) Thanks for all the reviews. You all make me excited to be writing this story. There's a quick FAQ and preview at the end. Thanks guys! Enjoy!**

**Bella's POV**

Thanksgiving was exactly what I needed. Jake and I stayed up all night talking the first night I was home. I told him all about the issues with Edward and he got a little big-brothery and overprotective when I told him about the text message from Edward, and then the visit from Edward's "girlfriend". He told me about Kristin and I knew from the moment I saw him at the airport that he'd fallen in love, but he never admitted it to me. Not completely, at least. I think he was still a little in denial. Jake had always been practical and intentional about everything he did. This girl must have been good for him, because he always said that you couldn't fall in love immediately, you had to really work at it but he was obviously head over heels for her. Thanksgiving Day was even better. Jacob and his father joined us and I got to meet my dad's new girlfriend, Sue Clearwater. Jake told all kinds of interesting stories about his roommate and some about his professors. One professor, he called him "Professor Absent Minded" started teaching the wrong course a few mornings. I told them all about Alice and her family, and Jake brought up Edward, basically throwing me under the bus, so I had to tell that story. Charlie, Billy and Sue were just as infuriated with him as I was.

"You know Bella," she had said, laughing, "you'll probably end up marrying him".

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped, I choked on my food. "What?!"

"Many of my friends' hated their husbands before they married them".

"Come to think of it, I hated Renee before we started dating." Charlie laughed.

"Yeah, I hated my wife before we dated, too!" Billy was laughing. I looked at Jake with a panicked expression on my face. He leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"Don't worry Bella, I won't let you marry him. I'll stand up and protest and your wedding." He smiled.

"Promise?" I squeaked.

"Promise." He nodded, and squeezed my hand quickly.

On "Black Friday" Alice kidnapped me. I wish I was kidding. At 4:30am, I woke up to Alice jumping down on my bed. "Wake up Bella". She whispered.

"Alice!" I groaned. I was so disoriented.

"Bella!" she squealed, sitting beside me on my bed. Then the little pixie stole the covers from me.

"Hey" I whined, close to tears.

"Isabella Marie Swan. It is the biggest shopping day of the year. Now wake up!" she demanded, pushing me so hard I nearly fell out of the bed.

"Alice Mary Branden Cullen. It's 4:30am and the biggest sleeping in morning of the year". I mumbled back. I have no idea what I just said.

"Bella that doesn't even make any sense." She scolded, her arms folded against her chest.

"Alice, how did you even get in here?"I asked into my pillow.

"Your dad, silly! He was real excited to meet me. He said from your stories I sounded wonderful. He's real nice, Bella!" She was entirely too perky for 4:30am.

"GET UP! Or I will bring in reinforcements." She demanded.

"Huh?" I was still sleepy, and had no idea what she was threatening.

"My mom is in the car. Now let's go!" She said, pushing me into the bathroom. I showered quickly, and when I got out, I smelled coffee being brewed downstairs. I put on jeans and a blue sweater, and pulled a brush through my hair. I went downstairs to find Alice, and another woman, who I assumed was her mother.

"Hello" I said, shyly. Both Alice and her mother looked up and smiled.

"Hey Bella! Mom, this is my roommate Bella, and Bella, this is my mother Esme".

I smiled, and shook her outstretched hand, "It's wonderful to finally meet you, Mrs. Cullen." She smiled, and shook her head. "Oh, please, call me Esme". I smiled and nodded. Alice held out my coat and purse for me, and handed me a travel cup full of coffee. I thanked her, and they shuffled me out to the car, and we drove back towards Seattle.

Shopping with Alice and her mother was exactly as awful as I thought it would be. Mrs. Cullen was wonderful, but I hated shopping, early mornings and crowds. Of course, the worst part came about 10:30 when I complained that I was hungry.

"Oh, we're meeting the boys for lunch in an hour, don't worry." Alice smiled. I must have looked panicked, or annoyed or something, because she gave me a comforting smile and whispered "Just Emmett and my dad, don't worry. Edward isn't here". What the heck did that mean? Edward wasn't with his family for Thanksgiving? Or did she simply mean that he went back to school early? Before I was ready, we got back in the car, loaded down with bags and drove downtown for lunch. Emmett and Carlisle were waiting out front.

"Hey daddy! This is Bella, my roommate. Bella, this is my father, Carlisle". She introduced us, and I shook his hand and smiled.  
"It's great to meet you". I said.

"You too, Bella, I've heard wonderful things about you". He smiled back, and I blushed at his compliment. Before I could say anything else, Alice turned to Emmett.

"And Emmett, you remember Bella," Emmett stuck his hand out again.

"Of course, it's good to see you again, Bella." Emmett smiled. A thought came to me. Was Edward adopted? He was nothing like the rest of his family. Lunch went great. I loved Alice's family. Or, the family that was here, at least. Carlisle and Esme were the kindest people I had ever met. And they were so in love. I wish that I had parents like that. Don't get me wrong, Charlie and Renee were great, but the Cullen's were affectionate towards each other. They held hands under the table and had silent conversations with their eyes. I felt the need to look away a few times, feeling like I was intruding on a private moment. I hoped that someday, when I was married, my relationship with my husband would be like Carlisle and Esme's.

I got home around 5, and my dad was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper.

"Hey kiddo! How was shopping?" He asked, enthusiastically. I glared at him.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. Judas." I was only half kidding.

He laughed. "Sorry kid. But I like Alice. She's a nice girl! Make sure she knows she's welcome here anytime?"

"Sure dad".

When I got back to school, Alice was already there. She hugged me, and then said she was going over to Edward and Emmett's for dinner. She invited me along, but I had lots of homework, and no desire to see Edward. I told her to say hey to them for me, though. As soon as she left, I unpacked, and then started my homework. I had a paper due in the morning, and I was no where near prepared for it.

The next day, on my way to work, I gave Jake a call, but got his voicemail. Again.

"Hello, Jacob Black? It's Ms. Swan calling on behalf of Isabella M. Swan. She'd like to speak to you as soon as humanly possible, so if you could give her people a call back to schedule a phone call, as you are never available to talk when she is. Thank you Mr. Black and have a wonderful day." I laughed as I hung up the phone and walked to the admissions office smiling. It was a Monday, so there weren't many people visiting today. I only had one student to show around, which was nice, because it could be a more personalized tour. The girl's name was Anna O'Malley. She was a freshman at another college, which helped, because she knew all the important questions to ask. The high school students usually only wanted to know about the party aspects of the college, which I didn't know much about. Anna seemed sweet. I was giving her a tour of the business college and even introduced her to a few of the professors. Then, she asked if she could see one of the libraries, so we walked over, on the way, stopping for coffee. We were standing in the library foyer, as I briefly explained the layout when I heard someone call my name from behind me. I turned to see Edward, looking the hottest I've ever seen him. He was wearing dark jeans, a white collared dress shirt, and a brown leather coat. His messenger bag was slung over his shoulder.

"Oh, hey Edward". I greeted. He looked towards Anna.

"Who's your friend, Bella?" He shot me a charming smile. This made more sense now. He wanted to meet Anna, not talk to me.

"This is Anna, she's a prospective student from Harvard. Anna, this is Edward Cullen-he's my roommate, Alice's, brother". She stepped forward to shake his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet, you Edward." She said. Ugh. I didn't want to stand here and watch them flirt.

"I'm glad I ran into you both". He said, smiling.

"Why are you even here?" I accused.

"Got lost. Don't tell anyone I was here, you'll ruin my rep." (A/N: Gilmore Girls). "It was nice to meet you Anna. Hope to see you both soon!" He winked at me, and walked out of the library. Anna followed him with her eyes until he was out of site.

"Who was that?" She asked, sounding breathless.

"Edward…my roommate's brother". Had she not heard me when I introduced him? The look on her face told me she hadn't heard me then, and hadn't heard me now. We finished the tour without another word of Edward, and then I took her up to my dorm room with her bags that she had left in the Admissions office. Alice had invited us to Emmett and Edwards again for dinner (I wonder whose idea _that _had been). I declined. I couldn't stomach flirting all night, but I encouraged Anna to go ahead without me. It didn't take much persuading.

They were out late, and I was asleep before they returned. I woke up early, to find that Anna was gone, but Alice was back. I groaned silently to myself. I could only guess what that meant. Just then, Anna tiptoed back in, slightly blushing from her obvious "walk of shame" appearance when she saw me awake.

_**Author's Note/FAQ: The situation between Edward and Tanya will be explained soon, I promise. A few things need to happen before that does, though. Here's a quick preview of what's coming....(this way, I don't have to only e-mail it to those that reviewed, but I would still appreciate your reviews anyway.**_

_**NEXT CHAPTER: Jasper, Edward and Emmett prank Bella in her English class. If you watched Season Five of Gilmore Girls, you can get an idea of what's coming. That's the only hint you get! :) Chapter 10 will be from Edward's POV, and he will tell you all about Tanya. **_


	7. Love Triangle

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twlight or Gilmore Girls. Also, the last scene was taken almost word for word from a scene in Gilmore Girls (Episode: Not As Cute as Pushkin). Let me know what you think, I had lots of fun writing this one. Don't worry, revenge is sweet, and you won't need to wait long for Bella's revenge. See the A/N at the bottom for a sneak peak. **

**Bella's POV**

I could have killed Edward. Was he _trying _to get me fired? When he came to the door looking for Alice, the second he stepped through the doorway, I let him have it. I'd kept my cool with him until now, but I was done.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Edward asked, amused. I didn't answer.

"You look like you want to rip my head off". He was still amused.

"Yeah, I do actually. What the hell is wrong with you?!" I yelled, on the verge of crying. I was angry at myself; I always cry when I'm angry.

"What are you talking about?" He looked seriously confused.

"You slept with Anna! Are you _trying _to get me fired?!" The more I spoke to him, the more livid I got. He immediately got on the defensive.

"Excuse me?! Mind your own damn business. My sex life is not your concern".

"It is when you are sleeping with prospective students!" I yelled.

"I did nothing wrong. She's 19. It's legal". He calmly defended. I wanted to slap him across the face. He smirked at me, and then continued, laughing a little.

"Oh, I get it! You're jealous!"

"Ugh, get over yourself." I rolled my eyes. Okay, he was totally right, but he didn't need to know that, and increase the size of his already unmanageably large ego. He smiled again, and moved a little closer to me, brushing hair away from my face.

"You call me anytime you want me, baby". He walked away before I even had the chance to react.

It took me awhile to recover from that conversation. I'd never felt so attracted to him, and I hated myself for it. I am not the "one night stand" girl, I am a relationship girl. I needed to talk this over with someone…someone that could be neutral. I couldn't talk to Alice; she would be as disgusted with this as I was. I couldn't talk to Jake, he'd be angry. Then, it dawned on me. The _perfect _person.

He was sitting in a big armchair at Starbucks reading 1776. He looked up as soon as I walked in. I was relieved he was already there. We agreed to meet at a Starbucks a few towns away so we could really talk without the fear of someone walking in and telling the wrong people about our conversation. He stood as I walked over, and I kissed his cheek.

"Jasper, thank you so much for meeting me." I thanked him, sitting down beside him, slipping off my coat.

"No problem. Can I get you some coffee?" He offered, still standing.

"Sure, a mocha please." I began digging in my wallet, but he waved his hand.

"Jasper…no, you are doing me the favor. I should be buying you coffee."

"I'm not taking no for an answer. If you pay, I'll tell Alice you want to go on a weekend shopping trip to New York City." I'd only known him for a few months, and he already knew how to threaten me. He smiled, knowing by my facial expression that he'd won.

He came back over to the chairs, and handed my coffee with a smug look on his face.

"Alright, spill girl. What's wrong?" He looked sincerely concerned, and for that, I was grateful. I had come to Jasper, because I knew he wouldn't judge. He was close to the Cullen's and knew Edward's big secret, and he knew me quite well.

"Alright, before I tell you what's up, I need you to promise me that what I say stays between you and me. There is a reason I didn't want to talk to Alice yet".

"I understand, Bella. I give you my word that this will stay between us". He agreed sincerely. I was grateful for that, and felt comfortable pouring my heart out to him.

"Okay, this is hard for me to admit, but I'm going to say it, and then I'm going to backtrack, so please hold your reactions until the end". Jasper nodded for me to continue, and took a sip of he coffee.

"So, I think that I have a thing for Edward," Jasper didn't say anything, but his eyes got wide. "I hated him at the beginning and a part of me still does. He's a man whore, I know that. He even slept with a prospective student that I gave a tour to. I don't know how to control it and I know it's wrong. This doesn't make sense to me, Jasper," tears began to slip down my cheeks. "I need to know what to do…" I finished, looking up at Jasper for the first time.

"Bella…I'm not surprised," he smiled reassuringly at me. "The day I met you, when I saw Edward, I told him that I'd met the girl he was going to marry. I didn't tell him who it was of course," he added quickly, winking at me. "And I know you're curious about what's going on with Edward and I wish I could tell you, I really do, but I can't, it's not my story to tell. What I can tell you is that Edward has feelings for you, too. You're not going to like my advice, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. You need to talk to him, Bella. Not now, because he has a lot going on now and I don't want you to get hurt. But soon." He winked at me again and the tears were still falling from my cheeks. I wasn't hurt, or sad, I was angry and embarrassed. Jasper had reacted exactly the way I thought he would and needed him to. But I didn't want to be falling for the biggest player on the Dartmouth campus.

"Bella…I know you think he's a player". I snapped my head up at Jasper. I knew he was a player! I'd seen it with my own eyes! Jasper saw my expression and laughed.

"Okay, okay. He is a player, but Bella, there is more to Edward than that. He's a decent guy when you get past all that". He reassured me. I nodded in thanks, and hugged Jasper before I left.

"Thank you Jasper, it feels good to tell someone about this." I said into his chest.

"Anytime Bella. Oh, and one more thing. You should talk to Ali about this, too. I know you think she'll be disappointed in you, but I can promise you, she won't. She wants you to get together with Edward; she thinks it'll be good for you. And we know it'll be good for Edward." He winked, and walked me to my car.

The next day, I was walking to my class. I saw Jasper coming towards me, but he stopped, turned and went the other way. I wasn't sure if he'd seen me, but I hope he wasn't feeling awkward or anything about our conversation yesterday. I had considered his advice and had decided on telling Alice, especially after she told me she thought he was cheating on her. I guess he'd told her he had to meet a friend for coffee and since he was trying to be loyal to me, he was secretive about it and it made her suspicious. She needed to know it was me; I didn't want to cause any tension between them. I had decided to tell her tonight. I was going to take her to dinner and have some girl talk. I also knew that telling Alice meant committing to telling Edward soon; I was dreading that. I arrived in my classroom and sat in the first row of the large movie theater sized classroom. I didn't usually sit in the second row but today I needed a change, and I needed something that would force me to focus on class. Luckily, sitting in the front row did just that.

About 30 minutes into the 90 minute class, I was really into our discussion. We were talking about Jane Eyre, and I was learning a lot. It was nice; I'd read this book at least a dozen times, and I thought I'd gotten out all I could from it. Boy was I wrong! My professor was brilliant! Just then, I heard the door open to the classroom and Jasper burst in. I blushed crimson immediately. He scanned the room for me, and once he found me in the crowd he ran over to me. My heart stopped. Something bad must have happened.

"Excuse me! Young man! I'm in the middle of class!" My professor exclaimed.

"This can't wait!" Jasper yelled back. Something was either very wrong or he had an excellent poker face. My facial expression must have mirrored a deer in the headlights.

"Isabella, you can't just walk out like that after everything that's happened between us! I mean, I was still in bed! How could you do this to me?" He exclaimed, his face anguished. My jaw dropped to the floor, and I couldn't speak or scream. I couldn't move. I was completely frozen with my jaw hanging open.

"Young man, you need to do this later." My professor warned, pointing towards the door. Jasper looked equally angry at the suggestion.

"Excuse me, I cannot do this later!" Jasper turned back to me.

"I love you, Isabella! I love you! What the hell is the matter with you that you won't just let me?" He was seriously upset. It looked like tears would, or should be falling from his eyes.

"Okay, out, right now, young man, before I have you escorted from the room to the dean's." My professor threatened, but Jasper didn't have a chance to respond, because Edward burst into the room next.

"Jasper! What the hell are you doing?!" Edward growled.

"Get the hell out of here, Edward!" Jasper warned.

"I told you, Jasper, let it go!" Edward growled again. "She doesn't love you, Jasper. Bella, tell him you don't love him!" He said, desperately.

"Get out of here! Everything was fine between us before you came along!" Jasper yelled; his voice and face still anguished.

"Oh don't blame me because you couldn't keep her!" Edward yelled, defensively.

"I will kill you." Jasper threatened, and my eyes widened, my jaw nearly dislocating.

"Oh, I would love to see you try". Edward said smugly. Before the professor could do anything but jump out of the way, Jasper jumped on top of Edward, nearly tackling him to the floor. As Jasper fell, Edward grabbed Jasper by the neck, throwing him to the ground behind the teacher's desk. Edward jumped on top of Jasper, and began to punch him. Or at least that was what it looked like. The desk was in the way, so I couldn't be sure.

"Stop that! Stop it right now! Greg-call campus safety!" The professor demanded to the teacher's assistant sitting near the door. Before Greg could move, a large man dressed as an English police man came into the room, blowing a whistle. It took me a moment to realize it was Emmett. I buried my face in my hands, unable to watch anymore. But it was like a train wreck, I couldn't take my eyes away. I watched the rest of this horrid skit play out through my fingers. The professor understood that this was a prank about the same time I did. Emmett went over to Jasper and Edward, pulling them off each other.

"Alright, that's enough you two". Emmett yelled in an English accent. As soon as Emmett had pulled a still struggling Edward and Jasper to their feet, he turned back to face me. "Isabella Swan? You should be ashamed of yourself. These boys used to have pride…they used to have dignity. They used to have balls! Damnit Swan! Give them back their balls!" The class was laughing at this point. Emmett escorted them from the room, and the entire classroom, except for the professor and I, broke out in applause as the three ran back in the room to take a bow. Edward stared right at me and winked. I stared back, and I was sure that if I was a cartoon, steam would be coming out of my ears.

The good news? I no longer had to tell Alice I had a crush on her brother. The even better news? I could talk to Alice about helping me get revenge. I would need Carlisle's phone number, and I would need Charlie to come to parents' weekend this Friday.

**Authors Note: Review, please?**


	8. Bella's Revenge

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight. **

**Bella's POV**

The boys were not waiting for me when I left class and it was a good thing they weren't. I stalked back to my dorm room, glad Alice was there when I arrived. Her face fell the moment she saw the livid look on my face.

"What happened?" She asked, alarmed. I just stood there, speechless. I tried to find the words to express my embarrassment and anger at the…prank…that those boys had played on me this afternoon. I took my classes and school so very seriously that the thought of facing that class again killed me.

"You…family…boyfriend…" I was hyperventilating; tears of anger and frustration were cascading down my face. She pulled me into a hug, pulling me over to the futon. She rubbed my back soothingly and waited for me to calm down. Finally, I was able to spill out the story to her. She was just as aggravated as I was. Suddenly, as if on cue, wicked smiles crossed both our faces and we seemed to get the same idea.

"This means war". She said. And we began to plot.

After just a half an hour, we had a perfect plan. I decided to take it a step further.

"Alice. Give me Carlisle's phone number". She immediately knew what I was thinking and began to laugh.

"This is going to be the best prank ever!" We high fived, and called in a favor in to our fathers.

_**Alice's POV-Phone Call to Carlisle**_

"Hi Daddy!" I squealed.

"Hey Ali! How are you? Is everything okay? You never call me in the middle of the day!"

"Yeah, everything is fine, dad. But actually, I need your help."

"Anything. What can I do for you?" He seemed intrigued. I never asked for favors.

"Well, I need to start at the beginning. Emmett and Edward played a pretty mean prank on my dear roommate. They stormed into her _class, _while it was in session. Jasper went in, pretending to be her lover and yelled at her for leaving him in bed. Then, Edward stormed in and yelled at Jasper, saying that she was his. And then Emmett stormed in like a British policeman to break up the fake fist fight". I finished, and was glad he'd let me tell him the entire story before talking.

"I can't decide if I'm proud of them for pulling such an elaborate prank or if I'm furious for not only embarrassing Bella, but for interrupting her class." He said, but his voice sounded more angry than amused. He was a father, after all. Education always came first.

"Well, Bella and I are angry, and we want revenge. We have the perfect prank, but we need you and Mr. Swan."

"Tell me this plan, and I will help in any way that I can".

"Good, I'm glad you said that. Well, as you know, parent's weekend is coming up this weekend, which is when we have our little prank scheduled for. Now, I've spoken to Jasper briefly, and have decided that Edward was the mastermind, so we are mainly pulling the prank on him." Carlisle laughed at that.

"Alright, so…here is your role. No one will know that you are coming outside of Bella and me. We will make sure that Edward, along with Jazz and Emmett are somewhere somewhat private on campus. You will be accompanied by Bella's dad. We need you to bring Grandma Masen's ring that Edward inherited. Mr. Swan is going to scold Edward for declaring his feelings for Bella so publicly but that he's glad they finally declared their love for one another. Then you hand him the ring, and tell him that you're proud of him, and that you've arranged a dinner for all of us to celebrate and formally announce the engagement. I've already discussed the dinner with Mom-she's organizing it. It will all stay real until the engagement announcement, when Bella and I will make a joint toast, and will break the news to the boys that they have been Punk'd." I said proudly. I had to say, this was one of the better prank's I'd ever been a part of. Much better than their prank interrupting Bella's class.

"Wow, Alice. If you put half the amount of effort into school as you did this prank, you'll pass your classes with flying colors!" He joked.

"So are you in?"

"I am so in. I'll call Chief Swan and make the flight arrangements." I smiled, and gave Bella the thumbs up.

**Bella's POV**

Alice and I flawlessly pulled off the rest of the week without the boys suspecting a thing. Alice and I hadn't spoken to the three of them all week. When Friday afternoon came around, Alice and I jumped into her yellow Porsche to pick up Alice's parents and my dad. Quite honestly, they both seemed to be more excited than Alice and I were. We were dropping the men off first, so they could begin the prank. The boys were on campus playing football with some friends in the quad. It was public, but not too public. Totally perfect. We dropped Carlisle and Charlie off and wished them luck. Then, the three of us went back to the dorm to get pretty for the party.

**Carlisle's POV**

I think Charlie and I were more excited about this prank than the girls were. We had practiced on the plane, several times, with Esme pretending to be Edward. I had found the ring that Edward's grandmother had left him when she passed away and brought it with me. It was the perfect prop to the prank. Without it, one of them was sure to figure out that this was all a prank. Charlie and I were drawing close to the football field and both Charlie and I were slightly nervous. This had to be flawless. I'd owed my sons for a few pranks from years ago, so this was all being done in good conscience. Charlie was an excellent addition, as well. Edward would never believe that Bella had flown Charlie all the way out here for a prank. We came upon the football field and I didn't even have to call the boys over; they saw us approaching. I put my hands in the pockets of my black wool coat, patting the ring. They looked alarmed as they approached. I nodded slightly at Charlie, beginning the charade. Emmett approached us first.

"Dad! Is everything okay?!" Emmett was worried.

"Oh yes, Emmett. Everything is wonderful! Isn't it Edward!" I laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. He looked confused, his eyes darting between Charlie and I.

"Oh! I'm sorry boys, where are my manners? Boys, this is Chief Swan, Bella's father. Chief Swan, this is Jasper, Emmett. And, most importantly, Edward." I smiled when I got to Edward and winked at him, keeping my hand on his shoulder. He looked perplexed.

"It's nice to finally meet you. Especially you, Edward". He said in a stern voice.

"Boys, we do need to speak with you for a moment. Mostly to Edward, though." I announced looking around to see if anyone was listening. They just nodded.

"Well, Edward, I can't tell you how pleased I am with you. Finally deciding to settle down", he opened his mouth to protest, but I held my hand to him. "No, I already love Bella as a daughter, and am so glad you've decided to make it official. The L word coming from Edward! Who would have thought?!" the looks on Emmett and Jasper's faces were priceless; I only wish the girls were able to see this.

"I took the liberty of bringing this for you, Edward", I said handing him the ring. He was blushing majorly now. "I knew you'd want to really make it official." Emmett's eyes were wide as saucers when he realized what was in the box.

"Yes Edward. Welcome to the family," Charlie took over flawlessly. "I must say, I wish you wouldn't have disrupted Bella's class, but you love my daughter so much, you couldn't hold it in any further. I can appreciate that." He said with a chuckle, clapping Edward's shoulder. Edward almost fell to his knees from the light force. He was obviously completely shocked.

"But, moving past that, there are many preparations to be made. This must be done formally, and correctly, Edward." I put my father voice back on.

"We've set up an engagement dinner for you across town at Silvano's. It's Bella's favorite restaurant. You boys should go get ready; you must be there in an hour. Don't be late." I tucked the restaurant's business card that had its address into Edward's hand. We began to walk away, and then at the three step mark, Charlie turned back around to face Edward, his mouth still hanging open, clutching the business card.

"Oh, and Edward? Welcome to the family, son." Charlie said, wholeheartedly. We walked away then, and when we turned the corner, we saw them still staring after us, eyes bugging, mouths hanging open, still frozen in place. Charlie and I barely made it into the "safe" building when we fell to the floor in laughter.

**Bella's POV**

I squealed as I hung up the phone.

"WE DID IT! THEY HAD NO IDEA!!" I had just gotten off the phone with Charlie. They had completed their mission, and were taking Alice's car to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for phase two. Esme, Alice and I all embraced, jumping up and down. About five minutes later, as we were finishing up hair and makeup, Alice's phone buzzed.

"Um, it's Jasper". She was scared. We hadn't thought of this.

"It's okay, Ali. Answer it and play dumb. You only know what Bella told you. Dinner tonight at 7 to formally announce the engagement." Esme reassured. Alice nodded, and answered the phone.

"Hello?" She said, flawlessly.

"Uh-Al-Um,-tonight-er, dinner?" he mumbled, completely incoherent. He obviously hadn't snapped out of it yet.

"Was that English Jazz?" she didn't even have to act. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"Bel-Al-Edwa-I-I-Don't know what's happening…" he trailed off again.

"Um, Jazz should I be concerned? Are you okay? Were you hurt?" she sounded genuinely concerned. I pulled on my black dress over the black tights.

"No-just. Dinner?"

"Oh! You mean tonight! Isn't it wonderful?! All my dreams are coming true, Jazzy! Bella is going to really be my sister now!" She gushed. I couldn't help feeling sad. I wanted so badly to be her real sister, but I knew that was impossible.

"Alice? You-you-okay with-Edward?" Jasper managed. Alice laughed.

"Yes! I'm so happy for him. What's wrong with you?" She was still laughing.

"Meet you there…I guess…Bye". He finished, and hung up abruptly. We all fell to the floor, laughing, and finished getting ready, then headed over to the restaurant.

Esme had been keeping an eye out for the boys' car. Alice and I decided that once we saw them, the laughter would start, so we were going to stay hidden as long as humanly possible. Esme waived us into the ladies room, where they wouldn't be able to find us. We'd come in just before our toast. We heard Esme greet them in the foyer.

"Mom! I didn't know you'd be here!" Emmett exclaimed.

"Of course, darling! You didn't think I'd miss this?! Oh, my Edward, I am so glad you decided to settle down with Bella. I've spent the day getting to know her. She is quite a catch, darling. I'm so proud of you. I know you'd turn around and behave like a gentleman someday!" Alice and I had to bite back our laughter. She had obviously ushered them into the ball room they'd rented. A few minutes later, she came into the ladies room, stumbling through her laughter.

"They are totally buying this!" she whispered in excitement! We gave a quiet high five.

"Alright, they were the last to arrive. They're still a little flabbergasted, no one has said much yet. I think we'll be able to pull this off. Alright. I'm going to go back out. So they don't get suspicious, I've asked the manager to come and get you in five minutes, when we're ready. We want our Bella to make a grand entrance. I let the manager in on what was going on and she was thrilled." Esme kissed my forehead and left the bathroom. Alice and I quickly touched up our makeup, and I began to get slightly nervous, but pushed it down. I had to be confident; I had to pull this off. In no time, Alice and I had linked arms, and were following the manager into the ball room. Esme had carefully planned out seating. In between Jasper and Edward were two empty seats. I was to speak first, and then Alice. I strolled into the ballroom like I owned it, just as Alice had taught me. Edward turned to look at me. He looked positively terrified. I gave him a sexy smile, as Esme had taught me, and placed a hand on his shoulder. I turned and looked straight into Edward's eyes for my speech. If I looked at anyone else, I would blow my cover for sure.

"On behalf of my wonderful fiancé here, I would like to thank our parents for coming all the way out here on such short notice." I raised my champagne glass for effect. "Things are so wonderful, I am just so glad we are finally together. I can't wait to share the rest of my life with you, Edward, and have babies with you and grow old with you." I smiled again, as the already scared expression on his face turned to sheer horror, as if he'd just realized this was true. Then, Alice took over. "I've learned a lot from Bella and Edward's relationship, and I'd just like to say, that I hope you three boys have learned from Bella and I as well." They looked at her questioningly, they didn't understand that.

"Oh, and please don't forget. Don't play games with people that can play them better than you." She finished, switching her gaze between the boys as their mouths dropped open again. It took them several minutes to speak, and Emmett was first. He moved to stand between us, wrapping his arms around us, pulling us to his chest.

"You mean…this whole thing was just a big elaborate prank?"

Alice and I both looked up at Emmett and nodded our heads proudly. He broke out in a brilliant grin, and faked a chin quiver. "I am like a proud mama." We all broke out into laughter. I turned to see Edward standing very close to me. He stepped closer, an arm wrapping around my waist. I had to remind myself to breathe. He lowered his head to the hollow of my neck and shoulder. He kissed it softly. "My darling, if I were you, I would sleep with one eye open", he purred seductively. I shivered at the electricity of his icy mint breath against my neck. I immediately broke out in goose bumps.

"And why is that?" I asked, trying to be equally seductive. He pulled me closer. I could feel the hard lines of his body against mine. He whispered just below my ear this time, and I felt my panties dampen.

"Because all is fair in love and war", his voice was soft and velvet, but there was a menacing tone to his voice.

I savored our brilliant victory, but couldn't help but check the locks before I went to bed that night.

**What did you all think? **


	9. The Boys' Revenge

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight.**

**AUTHORS NOTE: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my best friend Mitch, who committed suicide two months ago. He was the biggest prankster I know. Love and miss you, buddy. **

**Bella's POV**

After Edward's warning, Alice and I considered doing another pre-emptive prank, but thought better of it. We were basically sleeping with our eyes open. We were paranoid about locked doors and windows at all times. But deep down, I knew that we didn't need to worry about that for two reasons. First of all, if they really wanted to get into our room, locks wouldn't stop them, and secondly, if I know them as well as I think I do, their prank will be big, and it would require us to be out of our room anyway. Alice and I had a "secret" notebook that we kept with us at all times, and every time we thought of a brilliant prank, we wrote it down so we wouldn't forget. The anticipation of the prank was probably worse than the actual prank would be. Every time we heard someone move in the hallway, we jumped into protective crouches.

For one of our classes, Alice and I had to go on a camping trip. For one of our P.E. core classes that we were required to take, we'd been taking an outdoor education class. It was easy, and it was about outdoor survival training. At least, it had been easy so far. We probably would have faked an illness to get out of going, but we decided it would be a prank-free weekend without the boys, so we went willingly. We were finishing backing our backpacks when Jasper called Alice. The two of them had called a truce, for the sake of their relationship. Soon, we were on a bus, on the way to the national forest, feeling very much like we were back in high school.

"You know, I kind of wish they would just pull a prank on us already. The build up of it in our minds is probably worse than the actual prank will be. I mean, come on, they aren't even that intelligent." Alice said, but I didn't know which one of us she was trying to convince.

"Well, at least we will have a horrific non-relaxing, painful weekend that will probably result with a trip to the emergency room prank free". I laughed.

Truthfully, the camping trip wasn't that bad so far. At least Alice and I had each other. One of the boys in the class had helped us pitch our tent and our professor had made a delicious dinner. It was simple-just burgers, but it was still good. By the time we crawled in our tents, we were exhausted. But Jasper had suggested that we both take an Advil PM to ward off sore muscles after all the hiking. Jasper was pretty outdoors-y, and said that it helps a lot. That right there should have raised our suspicions.

I woke up feeling a little shaky and seasick. I kept my eyes clamped shut, and tried to keep my eyes shut. Why was I so dizzy? The birds were singing in the background, and I remembered. _Nature. _I rolled onto my back, but it only made the dizziness worse. I squinted my eyes, and saw the bright blue sky.

_Shit._

_I know that I had fallen asleep in the tent. _

My eyes flew open, and I saw that Alice and I were on a king sized air mattress in the middle of the lake that we had been camping by. I was still disoriented from the sleep aid in the Advil, I couldn't remember how we'd gotten out here. And then I remembered Jasper coming to our room a few nights ago with the bottle of Advil PM. That little jerk. Alice woke up then, immediately realizing what was going on and screamed bloody murder, falling off the mattress and into the water. The waves threw me overboard as well. The water was completely freezing, and I fought my way up to the surface. Only then did I recognize the three men standing on the beach high fiving.

The boys helped us out of the water quickly and had blankets waiting. It was the last week of November and freezing, but at least there wasn't snow. Currently, we were too cold to be mad. At least I was. Alice was screaming at them though. The boys had worked their charm on our professor (who was a woman) and convinced her to let us go home with them, since we were all wet.

"YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU STUPID BOYS. THESE WERE MARC JACOB PAJAMAS!" Alice shrieked. The boys just shook their heads.

"What did you think was going to happen when you wore designer pajamas camping?" Emmett rolled his eyes. Before she could respond, Edward cut in.

"Further more, you went _camping_. You didn't think we were going to let that slide now, did you?" But Alice completely ignored both Emmett and Edward.

"AND JASPER! I TRUSTED YOU AND THEN YOU DRUGGED ME!" I laughed quietly at this, turning my face into the window so she wouldn't see.

"Alice, I did not drug you".

"THAT WAS NOT ADVIL PM JASPER AND YOU KNOW IT!"

"Yes it was, Alice. I told you to only take one, and you took two". Jasper said, exasperated.

Finally, we decided to declare a truce. With our "all is fair in love and war" mentality, someone was bound to get seriously hurt if our pranks continued to escalate.


	10. Edward's POV

**Edward's POV**

I sighed heavily as I looked out the window and into the horizon of the fluffy white clouds. I was on the family jet headed home for Christmas break with my family. Alice was still barely speaking to me. I was excited a few weeks ago, we'd gotten closer when Tanya had come back, but that had ended with our short-lived prank war. It had been a rough semester, complicated even more with my feelings for Bella. At first, I'd hated her. She thought less of me because of my lifestyle choices which were none of her business. Just then, I felt someone sit in the seat next to me.

"Hey Jasper". I still couldn't believe he was with my baby sister. Alice and I weren't as close as we once had been, and I knew it was because I'd been a jerk to my family.

"Hey Edward, are you okay?" Jasper was one of the nicest guys I'd ever met. I knew that he knew about the Tanya situation, but he'd never bring it up. I knew that if I told him, he'd pretend he had no idea. But, above all, as much as I regretted hurting my brother and sister, I regretted hurting my mother the most. Esme had always been a wonderful mother. I knew she saw right through my act with all the women. I'd never had the guts to tell her what happened with Tanya in high school. I only told Alice and Emmett. Carlisle knew, but he didn't "know". He was the doctor who Tanya had gone to, but because of confidentiality, he had to pretend he had no idea what was going on. He never asked and I never told. But I had plans to tell Esme the whole story over break. I needed her advice.

"No, I'm not. It's been a hard semester". We'd just finished up finals and I was relived. I had big plans to drink myself into oblivion tonight.

"Well, it's over now. You have four weeks to relax". He pointed out, trying to comfort me. "Edward, could I ask you a question?" I was afraid to say yes, and he looked afraid to ask.

"You can ask". I wasn't sure I'd answer, but he could ask.

"How do you feel about Bella?" he asked. I turned my face to look back out the window.

"I think she'd never give me the time of day". I said, sadly.

"How do you know that, Edward?" Jasper was exasperated.

"Because she hates me, Jasper! Open your eyes". I raised my voice.

"She doesn't hate you, Edward. You're her fiancé!" he joked, in an attempt to bring me out of my bad mood. A smile tugged at my lips.

"Look, Edward, we're getting ready to land, I'm going to go back by Alice, but please don't let your previous situation taint all your future relationships." He whispered, patting my shoulder and walking away. I couldn't believe he'd actually acknowledged the fact he knew about Tanya. Wow.

We'd landed, and Carlisle picked us up at the airport. I was quiet on the way home, and he kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror, sending sympathetic smiles my way. He'd tried to talk to me about the Tanya situation when he was in town for my fake engagement dinner.

We pulled into the driveway of our Seattle home, and I gave a sigh of relief. I was glad to be home. I didn't say much at dinner, and afterwards, I went straight to my room to listen to music. I drifted off, but woke up just after midnight. I crept downstairs to get some water when I found Esme sitting at the kitchen table in her pajamas and a robe.

"Hey mom" I said softly, rubbing my eyes.

"Hey sweetheart. Are you okay? You disappeared after dinner." she asked, concerned. I took a deep breath as I poured some water into a glass and sat at the table across from her. I knew this was as good a time as any, and I needed to stop this behavior before I completely messed up my life, and alienated everyone that ever meant anything to me.

"No mom, I don't think I am". I whispered, pinching the bridge of my nose. Praying the tears wouldn't fall during this conversation. I'd damn near had a breakdown when I told Emmett and Alice years ago. My mom knew what I was doing, and she reached out to hold my free hand.

"What is it, dear?" she asked, concerned.

"I have to tell you something, but I need you to not get mad at me." I warned. She thought for a moment.

"I can promise that I won't stay mad". She said sincerely. At least she was honest. She'd never give me her word if she didn't mean it.

"Do you remember Tanya?" Her eyes glazed over with blind hatred. _Yep. She remembers._

"I remember you crying yourself to sleep for months." She said, angrily.

"Well, my senior year, after prom, Tanya and I rented a hotel room, and we slept together". I paused for her reaction, but she simply rolled her eyes. I'd told her back then we were spending the night there with friends, I guess she assumed.

"Well, in July, Tanya told me that she missed her period the month before, and had made a doctor's appointment. I wanted to go with her, to be there for her, but she insisted that she go alone. I told her that no matter what, we'd figure things out, and I meant it. I went out and bought an engagement ring, which you knew about, and we got engaged. That part of the story you knew, minus the pregnancy scare. She'd never told me when exactly the appointment had been, so about a month later, I asked her how it'd gone. I assumed that she'd either gotten her period and cancelled, or it'd been negative, because I knew she'd tell me if she was pregnant." I could tell my mom was desperately trying to keep her cool. She must have been anticipating what I was going to say next. She wasn't an idiot; she knew how the story turned out. "So, she got all flustered, and I pressed her to tell me. I was so scared something was wrong with her or our baby." I could feel the tears beginning to come into my eyes. "She…Well, She told me that she'd gone, and that she'd found out she was several months pregnant with my child, but that she'd decided on her own she didn't want it, and she had…." This part was hard for me to say. "Well, you know." I couldn't say it. "I got angry, and said that I would have raised the baby on my own. She got angry and we got in this fight that ended in her throwing the engagement ring at my head. After that happened, mom…I don't know. Something in me snapped." I paused to give her a sad smile. "But you know that. You were there. Every night that I cried myself to sleep, every night that I refused to play the piano, which had at one time been my passion." Her face was streaking with tears at the new information that was making all these terrible memories finally make sense.

"Mom, I'm so ashamed at who I have become. I was mourning over this idea of love. I see you and dad, and you are so blissfully happy. Things aren't always perfect, but you always love each other. I wanted that so badly. But after that happened, I just shut down, and forgot all my ridiculous ideas about love. I went away to school and slept around carelessly. I acted ungentlemanly, and I didn't realize it until Bella, actually, yelled at me. I was just so…broken, I just, I don't know what I wanted from acting that way. I just wanted to forget everything about Tanya. So then, a few weeks ago, she came back to campus to find me, and things blew up. That's when I told Alice about all this. Tanya begged me to take her back, and said she was sorry about the baby. I almost took her back, and Alice and Emmett had to step in. Then, she wanted to get revenge on Alice, so Tanya went and threatened Alice. Finally, I called dad and he helped us get a restraining order on the family." Esme looked upset that I hadn't told her that part.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you too mom, I was just already so ashamed, I didn't want you to be disappointed in me too." I finished, tears streaking down my face. Esme's head snapped up, her eyes narrowing.

"Wait, did your father-" she began, not wanting to finish.

"He knew, but he didn't officially know. I guess she'd gone to dad initially for being sick, and he was the one to give her the positive test result. Then, in August, she came back after the abortion because of cramping I guess, so he found out, and flew out to school and asked me about it."

"But he wasn't the one to actually…terminate it, right?" she asked, slightly relieved.

"Oh, no. But don't be mad, he wasn't allowed to say anything to me because of confidentiality issues. He only put things together after she came to see him, and figured out the root of my breakdown". She came around the table, and wrapped me in her arms.

"Baby, I'm so, so sorry. What can I do?" She held me as I let out my tears. I was really getting sick of crying over this.

"Help me fix it, mama".

After I had finished yet another emotional outburst, we sat back down at the table, this time with a bottle of wine, and I started the story with Bella. She had a smug smile on her face from the start. Apparently, she knew what I was going to say. She said she saw it at our engagement dinner, and she said that Alice had told her this wouldn't be our only engagement dinner. I'd never bet against Alice, and I didn't want to start now.

My mom and I had stayed up until nearly 7am talking, and it felt really good. There was an enormous weight that had been lifted off my chest now that she knew. My mom wanted me to fix things with Alice first, because she said it would be the first step towards showing Bella that I really was changing.

I was watching TV with Emmett when Alice walked in, weighed down with shopping bags, breathless.

"Hey!" Emmett called, "where have you been?"

"I went shopping for Bella for New Years Eve". She said, throwing a glance in my direction. Why had she done that? Was she planning something?

"Oh, is Bella coming here for the party?" Emmett asked, oblivious. We'd talked about the party and Bella's attendance to it several times since arriving home.

"Yes Emmett" Alice answered, rolling her eyes. Alice eyed me again.

"Hey Alice, could I have a word with you alone?" I asked softly, slightly embarrassed.

"Sure, Edward". She gave me a friendly smile, and I lead her up to my room. We sat on the black leather couch near the window.

"Alright Edward, spill. What do you want to know about Bella. I need to get some things done". Alice rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"Alice, I-I-just want to explain things to you and apologize. I owe you a very large apology. We used to be so close…and then I let the thing with Tanya come between us."

Alice thought for a moment before she spoke.

"Edward, it wasn't the thing between Tanya. Your personality did a complete 180. You slept with my friends Edward. Friends who are no longer my friends because of the way you treated them." Alice said, trying to keep her cool, but I could see the anger in her eyes. I hadn't known that I'd slept with her friends. I opened my mouth to reply, but she cut me off to continue. "And you did the same thing to Bella. You not only slept with one of her friends, but you slept with one of her students. If the admissions office finds out, she'll be fired".

"I know that, she told me. I feel bad about it".

"Edward, I am your sister, I love you, but you're being reckless with your life. And more so, you're hurting my roommate and best friend. I'll forgive you if you promise to make an honest effort to go back to the old Edward, before Tanya. I know she hurt you, but you're only allowing her to continue to hurt you by holding on to this. What she did was unforgiveable, but don't let it happen again. Life goes on." She gave me a small smile and left my room. I rested my elbows on my knees and sank my head into my hands. As hard as it was going to be to straighten out my life, it felt good to be back.

Before I knew it, it was Christmas, and my family had noticed the obvious change. Carlisle and I still hadn't gotten a chance to talk alone yet and I didn't want to yet. As much as I tried, I couldn't help but feel a little betrayed by my father. I knew that even if he had told me earlier about her pregnancy earlier, Tanya still would have had the abortion, which was what I was really upset about. Esme and I were still planning something that would show Bella how much I had changed. She was coming back to Washington for New Years, and was going to come to the family's party. Every year since I can remember, we have a very large New Years Eve Party. My dad's colleagues come, and all of their friends, and all of our friends.

Christmas morning, Alice woke me up early. I found it slightly funny that when we were kids, we waited until at least 9am to open gifts from Santa. But now, grown and all in our twenties (except for Alice, who was 19), it was 6am, and she was waking everyone up. We all shuffled downstairs, collapsing on to the couch, almost instantly falling asleep, until my mom held out a cup of coffee. I took it, giving her a thankful smile.

"Thanks, mom"

"You're going to need it. Why exactly do we need to do this at 6am? We're all going to go back to bed after we're done anyway." Esme said quietly to me, sitting next to me on the couch. Carlisle came to sit next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her to his chest. He kissed the top of her head softly, and whispered something in her ear. Judging by the look on her face, I was glad at that moment that I didn't have above average hearing. I hoped that someday, Bella and I would be as happy as they were, after almost 30 years of being married. _Did I just think that? _

"Okay everyone, now that we're all here, we're going to call Bella and wish her a Merry Christmas!" Alice announced, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Alice," Carlisle said in a warning tone. "It is 6am on Christmas morning. Not everyone needs to be awake this early."

"Dad, calm down. It is after 8am in Phoenix, she'll be awake". Alice pointed out, rolling her eyes. I'd forgotten momentarily that Bella was spending Christmas with her mother in Phoenix. Before anyone could protest further, she dialed, and put the phone on speaker. My heart was thumping so loudly, I was worried that my family could hear it. I tried to subtly rest my hand over it, and could feel it beating against my chest. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Esme look over at me and smile, before snuggling further into my father's chest.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice answered. I was immediately irritated with Alice. She'd woken Bella up.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS, BELLA! THE FAMILY WANTS TO SAY IT TOO!" Alice yelled, holding the phone out to us, motioning us to say it. Everyone repeated "Merry Christmas", but at different times, so I wasn't sure if she could have understood what she said.

"Merry Christmas, everyone." She said softly. "Alice, why are you calling me so early on Christmas morning?" she whined.

"Bella!? Why are you not awake opening presents?!" Alice scolded.

"Because I am a college student home for Christmas Break and I want to sleep".

"Bella, you can sleep when you die, now go have a good Christmas with Charlie and Renee!"

"Okay, thanks for calling. Merry Christmas, everyone! Enjoy your day; I'll see you later this week!" Bella answered, more cheerfully.

"Bye Bella, dear!" Esme called, before Alice hung up the phone.

I always loved Christmas morning in our house, and I loved it even more this year. I had missed my family dearly. We opened all of our gifts, but my parents told Alice she couldn't open her biggest gift until Bella got here, which made her very curious. And a curious Alice makes everyone very angry.

The rest of the week passed quickly, and before I knew it, Alice was driving out to Forks to pick up Bella for New Years. Emmett, Jasper and I had to drop off our tuxedo's at the cleaners. Why my parents insisted on a black-tie party in our own home, I'll never know. But if it meant getting to see Bella in a dress, I was all for it. Alice handed me a small box and winked. I was slightly scared to open it.

It was a royal blue tie.

"But Alice," I called down the hallway. She poked her head out of the door.

"Yes Edward?"

"Alice, I already have a tie."

"I know that Edward," she smirked, "Just wear it. I promise you won't be sorry". She winked at me again. I smiled, but knew that I'd be thanking her later.

While Alice was picking up Bella, I picked up my tux, and began to get ready. There were cleaning crews at the house, and lots of party planners, florists, chefs and caterers. I turned music on in my room to calm myself down. I hadn't seen her yet, and I knew Alice would keep me from her until the party. Once I was ready, I found Jasper speaking with my mother. My mother smiled, and handed me a glass of champagne.

"You look very handsome, darling" she said, kissing my cheek. People were starting to arrive now, and I was starting to dread talking to some of these people. James and Victoria Laurent worked at the hospital with my father, and they gave me the creeps. Something was off about them. My father agreed with me, but he said he couldn't invite everyone and not invite them.

I'd found Emmett, sitting in the corner by himself looking miserable.

"Hey bro," he greeted, already trying to loosen his tie. Esme looked over at us and shot Emmett a look, shaking her head slightly. He dropped his hand, looking like a six year old who had just been scolded. Just then, I looked up to see Alice standing on the staircase trying to catch my eye. She began to descend, Bella towed behind her, looking unsure and nervous. It was then that I understood the tie.

Bella was dressed in a floor length royal blue gown. It hugged every curve perfectly and pooled at her feet. The back of the dressed was criss-crossed across her back. She took my breath away, and I felt a little weak at the knees. I looked over and saw that Emmett's jaw had dropped as well. (A/N: Picture of Bella's dress is on my profile). I saw Bella hug Esme, but she kept looking around for someone. She looked uncomfortable, and kept smoothing her dress. Five minutes later, when I absolutely couldn't take it anymore, I went over to them, and Alice gave me a large smile. Before Bella could look, I moved directly behind her, and gave Alice a big thumbs up signal. Just then, Bella turned around with a beautiful smile on her face. A blush crept up her neck and into her cheeks.

"You look beautiful, Bella".

"Thank you, Edward". Just then, Alice looked at me with a panicked expression.

"Edward! Why don't you take Bella…to..the uh, kitchen? OH! No, let's go to the study! I'll get dad! GO! Now!" She practically shouted, running off in the opposite direction. Bella and I both stared after her for a moment.

"I wonder what's wrong," Bella said, concerned. I just gave her a comforting smile, and held my arm out for her. She took it willingly, and we followed Alice's directions and went to Carlisle's study, grabbing a glass of champagne on the way. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Excuse me, but aren't you only 19?" I asked, teasing.

"Close enough". She shrugged. We reached the study before Alice, and took a seat on the comfortable black leather couch.

"How was your Christmas?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly. _Was I seriously nervous? I don't get nervous around girls. _

"Why Edward Cullen. Are you nervous around me?" She asked, smiling. I blushed for maybe the third time in my life. I was saved from answering when my parents walked in with Alice.

"Why Edward, you don't have to be here", Carlisle said. I looked to my mom, who intercepted.

"Yes he does, Carlisle". She said, saving me. My dad looked at her funny, but dropped it.

"Alright, Bella," Alice said, not allowing the small talk any longer. "My parents wouldn't allow me to open my biggest present without you present". Alice explained, sitting on the other side of Bella, bouncing up and down. I knew what the gift was, as I was the one to buy it. I hadn't been happy about it then, but I was ecstatic about it now.

My parents didn't say anything, they just handed identical envelopes to each of them.

"You mean you got me something, too?" Bella asked embarrassed. "You didn't have to do that…" Alice wouldn't allow Bella to finish her thought.

"Bella, just open it". Alice said, impatiently as she ripped the envelope open. It took them both a moment to realize what it was, and they were both speechless until Alice started jumping up and down, and bounced into my parents arms. Bella was still stunned, and I saw tears gathering in her eyes. I smiled at my parents. She silently got up to hug my parents, and said a soft "thank you" as she placed a hand over her heart.

"It's no trouble," Esme said, waving her hand.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BOUGHT US A HOUSE!!!" Alice screamed, and my dad and I winced a little bit at the volume of her voice.

The rest of the party went quickly and before I knew it it was a quarter to midnight. Alice ran up to me, and whispered in my ear "You're kissing Bella at midnight". I looked at her with what I assume was a panicked expression.

"Edward, you wanted help with Bella. I am helping you with Bella. Stop it. Since when are you shy to kiss girls?" I groaned.

She winked, and glided into the living room.

"Well there you are, pretend fiancé!" Bella was in a good mood, and she slipped her hand in mine.

"10…9…"Bella and I joined in yelling out the countdown. I locked eyes with my mother, who was smiling brightly at Bella and I. She must have known what was happening.

"8…7…6…5…4…3…2….1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone cheered. Poppers went off, and we all immediately grabbed another glass to toast. Bella wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my head to hers. Our eyes locked, and she said, "Happy New Year, Edward." Before I could respond, we were kissing. It was the most passionate, wonderful kiss I'd ever experienced in my 21 years of life.


	11. What Goes Up, Must Come Down

**Bella's POV**

**A/N: Thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's quite eventful. **

New Years Eve was amazing. I couldn't tell you where all my confidence came from, though. And that kiss…it was even more amazing than I had imagined. I was still slightly apprehensive to start anything with Edward. I'd spoken with Alice about it and she said he really seemed genuine. He'd had a long heart-to-heart with Esme, and Alice, too. He apparently had some kind of serious issue with an old girlfriend. I'm not sure what exactly happened between Edward and I. One minute I hated him, and the next thing I knew he was all I wanted. I'd downplayed my feelings to Alice, because I wasn't sure how she'd feel about it. But after the way she was looking at Edward and I on New Years, I'd guess that she wanted something to happen. Nothing too exciting had happened after we kissed though. He had to get back to school early with Emmett. They left the next morning before I was awake. He left me a note though, but it was still going to be awkward.

_Bella-_

_Sorry I had to leave! I wish we could have had lunch together today. I hope you had a great time last night-I know I did. If I forgot to tell you-you looked absolutely beautiful last night. Though beautiful doesn't seem like the right word. You were much more than that. Anyway, I will call you when I get back to campus. See you in a few days. Enjoy your day._

_-Edward_

Well, it was certainly a step up from the way he was treating me back at school. I still wanted to talk to him though. I was trying really hard not to get my hopes up. But it didn't really work when your best friend and roommate was basically already planning the wedding.

Alice and I finally got back to school and almost the second I got back to our dorm room Edward called.

"Hey! How was the trip back?" he asked.

"It was pretty good. It went quickly". I yawned. Lie. Total lie. With Alice? Are you kidding me?

"Well, I don't want to keep you; I'll let you get settled. I just wanted to see if you wanted to have lunch tomorrow?" He asked, sounding nervous again.

"Sure, I'd like that". I answered, probably sounding as nervous as he was.

"Great. I have something to tell you, and I know you probably have questions, too". He laughed nervously.

"You read my mind." I let out the same nervous laugh.

"Alright, well I'll pick you up at noon? Is that okay?" He asked. I looked at my school schedule quickly.

"Yeah, I get out of class for the day at 10am, so I'll have the rest of the day". Oops. I didn't mean that we had to spend the whole day together; I just meant that we wouldn't have to rush through lunch.

"It's a date, then." Good, guess he didn't read anything into my answer, "I'll pick you up at noon then. Have a great night."

"You too, Edward. See you tomorrow". We hung up, and there was a flash of pixie that flew from the corner of my eye to my closet. Ten minutes later, everything I owned was on my bed or on the floor, trying to find the perfect "lunch date" outfit.

I was ready for our date a little early the next day. I decided on a royal blue long sleeved shirt and dark jeans, with a black leather jacket. And when I say "I decided" what I really mean was Alice decided. I was on the futon reading when there was a knock at the door. I was so excited to be able to move into the house. School rules said that we had to finish out the year in the dorms. It made it easier that the house wouldn't be ready to be moved into until mid-April. Alice and I were contemplating on staying in the area over the summer. I opened the door and Edward was more handsome than I remembered. He was dressed in a button up white dress shirt, dark jeans and a leather coat. We both laughed.

"We match", he chuckled, holding out his hand for me to take.

We went to a quiet diner for lunch. I knew I had questions for him, and he seemed to want to tell me something. We made small talk until after we ordered, and then he sat back.

"So. Do you want to start?" he asked me.

"Oh. Um, sure…Who are you?" I asked, laughing. He chuckled.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, I like the change. But it's just so sudden and drastic."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry for confusing you, and I'm sorry for being such a jerk this semester. But, there is a story behind it." He paused, gauging my reaction I guess. Whatever he saw on my face made him continue.

"When I was in high school, I dated this girl named Tanya for the majority of high school. When we were seniors, we rented a hotel room after prom. I thought that I was in love with her, and we both wanted to take the relationship to the next level. So, we did, and it was terrible and awkward", his face flushed. He let out a nervous laugh, running his fingers through his hair before continuing. "So, in July, she told me that she was late, and had made a doctors appointment to get everything checked out. I wanted to do the right thing, and I loved her, so I bought an engagement ring, and proposed, and she said yes. About a month later, she still hadn't mentioned the outcome of her doctor's appointment. My dad's a doctor, I know that it takes awhile to get test results and all that, so I hadn't ever mentioned it until then. I asked her about it, and she got all flustered and nervous, and told me that the pregnancy test had come back positive, but she'd decided on her own that she didn't want the baby, so she terminated the pregnancy." My hand flew to my mouth. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Edward had obviously been heartbroken, and still was, over the situation. "Anyway, I got mad and upset, and told her that I would have raised the baby on my own, but she got angry back, and said it wasn't my decision to make, and we got in a fight that ended with her throwing the engagement ring at my head". He finished, taking a deep breath. "Bella, you've seen my parents. They've been married almost 30 years, and they act like they're still on their honeymoon. Which, as a kid, is completely revolting, but as an adult…it made me long for someone like that. After the thing with Tanya, I was so broken hearted that I completely disregarded all my thoughts about love. I turned to one night stands because I just wanted to forget…I wanted…I don't actually even know…I know it was reckless and immature, but it was how I dealt with it. Then, earlier in the semester, Tanya came back." He paused, and I gave him a small smile, and nodded. He looked at me with a questioning gaze.

"Tanya came to talk to me, Edward."

"WHAT?" he obviously hadn't heard this story, and he was infuriated.

"Yeah, she was waiting outside my dorm from me one day, and told me to stay away from you because you were dating her…it was weird. She knew my name and everything. Really creepy". His mouth was hanging open in shock.

"I'm so sorry! Alice told me that Tanya had threatened her, I didn't know it was you too."

"It's okay. What was she doing on campus, though?" I asked, realizing that this was the big Edward story that wasn't "Alice's to tell".

"She came to try to get me back. I almost took her back, and then Alice and Emmett had to step in, and my dad had to help us get a restraining order. It was a mess".

"Wow" I said, not finding any other words for the situation. I reached across the table, and placed my hand over Edward's.

"I'm really sorry she did that to you, Edward. You didn't deserve that". He smiled in thanks at me.

"But anyway, I hadn't really told anyone about it until over break. You snapped me out of it, Bella. When you were yelling at me…I realized how much of a jackass I was being, and how reckless I had been." I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but I didn't have to. My cell phone rang, and I checked the caller ID. It was Renee. I hit the ignore button, deciding to call her back later.

"Sorry about that." I smiled, placing the phone back into the purse beside me. Just then, our food came, and we began to eat. I was starving.

"Edward? I'm glad you snapped out of it." I said quietly. "You deserve what your parents have." I wasn't about to add that I wanted him to have that with me. I groaned when my cell phone rang again. This time it was a text message from Renee.

_Bella. 911. Call me! –Mom_

I panicked for a moment, staring at the message. Edward must have realized my expression.

"Bella? Is everything alright?" he asked, coming over to sit on my side of the booth.

I shook my head. "I-I'm not sure. I'm sorry; I have to call my mom". I looked at him apologetically. He nodded, and I stayed at the table and dialed my mom's phone number. She picked up halfway through the first ring.

"Mom? It's me. What's wrong?"

"Bella! Thank God! Honey," she started, and began to cry. _Oh no, this must be really bad._

"Sweetheart, I need you to go back to Washington". She stated.

"What? Mom, I have school, I can't just go back to Washington." I snapped, annoyed. She had a tendency of calling things "emergencies" when they were not. She called 911 when I had the hiccups as a baby.

"No, baby, Charlie's in the hospital. He has Stage Four colon cancer". When she said it, I nearly dropped the phone. I didn't know much about medical terminology, but I knew cancer, especially of the colon was never good. Edward put an arm around my shoulders. I couldn't tell if he was reacting to the look on my face, or if he'd overheard Renee.

"H-how—when?" I choked out, trying desperately to hold back my tears.

"I don't have details. He still had me listed as his emergency contact. Someone needs to be with him to make medical decisions, and I can't do it. I'm on the road with Phil, and I can't get a flight out." She explained quickly, but I knew it was just an excuse.

"Yeah, okay, let-I'm not at school right now, so let me get back and I'll see what I can do. I'll call you soon. Bye mom, love you."

"Okay, I love you, too. Be safe." She said, and I hung up the phone and turned to look at Edward.

"I have to get back, I'm sorry." I apologized, in a daze, throwing my cell phone into my purse.

"What's wrong?" he obviously hadn't overheard.

"Um, I-Charlie has—c-co-colon cancer…stage four?" I said questioningly, unsure of what exactly that meant, but judging from Edward's expression, not good. "I have to see about getting a plane out. There…there are medical decisions that need to be made. I have to go back home…" I trailed off as he whipped out his blackberry, and sent a frantic text message. Almost immediately, it beeped a response, and he pulled me out of the booth.

"Edward? What-Where are we going?" I was still trying to choke back my tears, but I was losing the battle quickly.

"The airport." He answered, typing something else with his free hand on the blackberry.

"What? But I need to go pack and..." he cut me off before I could continue.

"No, don't worry about it. I have the family jet ready. I'm taking you to the airport. It'll take you to the Seattle airport and my dad will pick you up there and take you to your father. He'll help you make any medical decisions." Edward said, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the freeway, speeding off towards the airport. We didn't talk much. I was still processing. A few tears slipped down my cheeks, but I brushed them away before Edward could see. He pulled onto the tarmac, stopping in front of the familiar jet. The pilots were waiting outside, but boarded as soon as they saw Edward step out of the car. He helped me out of the car and onto the plane.

"Alright, I have to stay here, but I'll have Alice pack you a bag, and we'll come out as soon as we can." He bent down to kiss my forehead. "You call me if you need _anything." _I nodded, and then he asked for my cell phone. I gave him a confused look, but he held his hand out for it. I took it out of my bag, and handed it to him. He began to program a new number in it.

"Alright, I put Carlisle's phone number in. He'll be waiting at the airport, so just give him a call when you land." I silently nodded again, and choked out a soft "Thank you".

"Don't even worry about it, Bella." He kissed my forehead again. "Alright, you're all set. Be safe, and take care of yourself. And remember, if you need anything, you call me, understand? I don't care what time it is." He said firmly. I nodded again, and managed a small smile, still in a daze. He left the plane, and shut the door behind him. I rested my head against the seat, and squeezed my eyes shut, praying to wake up from this nightmare.


	12. Big Decisions

**DISCLAIMER: I, sadly, am not Stephenie Meyer. Thus, I don't own Twilight. **

**Bella's POV**

When the plane landed I didn't even have to call Carlisle. I saw him leaning against a black Mercedes from the window of the plane. I stepped off the plane and he came over and put an arm around me.

"Hey Bella, you holding up okay?" He asked concerned, leading me to his car.

"Thanks to you and Edward. You have an amazing family". I told him. He smiled.

"Yeah, I know." He laughed, holding the passenger door open for me.

"Carlisle, I need you to tell me what to do". I said in a desperate voice as the car sped down the rain soaked highway on our way to Forks. He patted my hand.

"I can't tell you much, yet, Bella. I haven't had the chance to check him myself, or look at his chart. I did have his oncologist fax me over his notes from his initial diagnosis and from that, I can only tell you that it's stage four, which means that while it originated in his colon, it's spread to other places in his body, and his lymph nodes."

I didn't know much about cancer or anatomy, but I knew that if cancer spread to your lymph nodes, it was bad. Tears sprung into my eyes.

"No matter what, Bella, we'll be here to help you. I'm going to take over your father's case, and I have a good friend from Maryland that's going to fly out this week to look at him, too. He's the best oncologist in the United States." Carlisle promised, trying to comfort me.

"Oh!" I gasped, grabbing my cell phone, "I totally forgot to call Edward when I landed!" I said, dialing his number quickly. He picked up on the first ring.

"Bella? Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes, thank you, Edward. Thank you for all of this…I'm with your dad now, we're going straight to the hospital. I'll let you know as soon as I know anything". I promised with a shaky voice.

"Okay Bella, take care. Alice and I are going to finish out the school week, and then we'll all come up this weekend, okay?" Edward asked.

"Sure, that sounds perfect". Quite honestly, I didn't care about much of anything right now. I just wanted to see my dad.

Carlisle led me down the sterile halls of the hospital to Charlie's room. We stopped just outside a door with a paper name plate that said "Charlie Swan".

"Now Bella, you need to be prepared. He had a lot of monitors and tubes hooked up to him. He doesn't look like your dad and he's probably very tired. Visiting hours are almost over, so you don't have long. Do you want me to go in with you, or do you want to go in alone?" Carlisle said, resting a hand comfortingly on my shoulder. I sniffed through my tears and thought for a moment.

"Um, could you come in there with me at first, and then I'll ask you to give us a minute alone if I need it?" He nodded in understanding, and led me into Charlie's room.

I was grateful that Carlisle had warned me about Charlie's condition before I went into the room, or I may have lost it. I crept to the side of Charlie's bed; he looked like he was sleeping. I bent down to kiss his cheek lightly. His eyes fluttered open.

"Hey dad, how are you?" I asked softly, placing my hand over his.

"Oh, I'm alright kid. What are you doing here? Why aren't you at school?" he scolded.

"Someone has to come and check to be sure that you're taking your medicine," I tried to joke, but he wasn't amused.

"Bella, you need to get back to school. I will be just fine." Typical dad. "How did you get here, anyway?" he asked. Carlisle stepped closer to the bed then.

"The Cullen's, dad. I was having lunch with Edward when mom called." I ran my finger across his hairline. "Edward called his dad, and they flew me here on their jet, and Carlisle picked me up at the airport." I explained. My dad looked over at Carlisle, then.

"Thanks, Carlisle." He smiled, wryly. He yawned, his eyelids beginning to droop.

"Alright dad, I need to make some phone calls, and you need to sleep. Do you need anything?" I asked.

"Yes, I need you to get back to Dartmouth." He scolded. I rolled my eyes.

"Now I know where my stubbornness comes from". Both he and Carlisle laughed.

"Dad, I promise I will get back to Dartmouth just as soon as I can. But, I am going to stay here for a few days to help you out. My teachers will understand." I kissed him on the cheek again. "Now, please, get some sleep". Carlisle led me back out of the room, and over to a family waiting room.

"Alright, I'm going to go check on his chart, and see what the deal is. Then, that colleague of mine should be here. Will you be alright for a little bit?" He asked as I sunk into a seat in the waiting room. I nodded at him, and he told me to call him or have him paged if I needed anything. I pulled out my cell phone and saw that I had six voicemails. Ooops. I had completely forgotten to call Renee. Only three of the voicemails were for her. One was from Alice, and two were from Jacob.

"_Hey Bells. I have some news. So call me. I don't care if it's three in the morning, we have to talk. Mmmkay, hope you're doing well. Love 'ya."_

"_Alright Bell, you're not picking up…PLEASE call me as soon as possible. PLEASE. I have big news, and I don't want to tell your voicemail."_

I wondered if his news was about Charlie. But how would Jake have found out? Surely Renee wouldn't have called him and as far as I knew, the only other people that knew Charlie was in the hospital was the Forks Police Department. I didn't think Billy knew, either, because if Billy knew, he'd be here. I called Renee back first. It took me about twenty minutes to convince her that I was fine and that Charlie was being taken care of. I told her about the Cullen's and that Carlisle was getting a friend of his to look at Charlie's case to see what he could do. Renee gushed for quite some time about how amazing they were and how she was hoping to meet them soon. She'd finally thought of a plan to get back here, wanting to visit Charlie in a few weeks. We hung up and I promised to call her the moment I knew anything.

Then, I called Jake. I needed him here. I needed someone. I was so grateful to the Cullen's for being here, but it only made me feel more alone. I needed _my _family, which included Jake. I knew that having my mother here wouldn't help. She and Charlie would only fight. He picked up on the second ring.

"Bella! Finally! Where the heck have you been? I've needed to talk to you! Listen…I did something kind of wacky today, but I know that you'll be supportive and won't be judgmental, which is why the first person outside of us to know is you!" _Us? _That didn't make sense. Was he talking about Charlie?

"Wait, Jake? What…is this about Charlie?" I asked, confused.

"Charlie? No, it's about Kristin and me!" Jake sounded so excited. I wanted to let him tell me his news first. I knew that he'd insist it was no big deal if I told him my news first.

"Oh okay, go ahead." I prompted, waiting for him to tell me the story.

"I'm engaged! I proposed, and she said yes!" He gushed. My jaw dropped nearly to the floor.

"What?" I was so confused…what the hell was going on? Was I living in some kind of alternate universe? First, Charlie gets cancer and then Jake gets engaged? Yes, this must be some kind of dream or horrible, horrible nightmare. This couldn't all be happening, not all at once.

"Yeah. I bought the ring over Thanksgiving break, Bells. You need to visit so you can meet her!" He exclaimed excitedly. I wanted to be happy for him, I really did. I just wasn't going to be capable of being happy for him today.

"Oh, Jake, that's wonderful!" I tried my hardest to sound genuinely happy. Again, I was happy, I just knew I couldn't sound happy.

"You okay, Bells? Something wrong?" he sounded anxious.

"No, Jake. I'm just surprised, but I think it's really great. I'm so happy for you. I can't wait to meet her. As soon as I can get to Washington, I will let you know, and we'll set something up. I promise". I sounded more sincere this time.

"Thanks for being so great, Bells." I could practically hear his smile from over the phone.

"But anyway, what's with Charlie? You mentioned him earlier. Is everything okay?" he asked. I didn't want to lie to him, but even more than that, I didn't want to ruin his happiness.

"Yeah, Jake. Everything's fine. I'm sorry though, I have to make a few more calls. Can I call you later tonight? I want to hear all about the proposal; I just have to get a few people on the phone during business hours". I explained, hoping he'd believe me. Normally, I was a real bad liar, and Jake always saw right through me. But I was hoping that he was too preoccupied being newly engaged and wouldn't notice.

"Sure thing, Bella. You call me anytime you want." He assured me, and my heart longed to have him here with me.

"Will do, thanks Jake."

"Anytime, Bella."

"Oh, and Jake?" I asked, hoping he hadn't hung up yet.

"Yeah?"

"Congratulations. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks, Bell."

I hung up the phone, feeling more alone than ever. I decided to call Billy. He was family, too, and was probably getting worried about Charlie. They spoke everyday, no matter what. Billy was just as worried as Renee, and jumped in the car while we were still on the phone. He hung up quickly, promising to be here as soon as he could.

When Billy arrived, he had to sneak in to see my dad. Visiting hours were officially over, but Carlisle told him he could have five minutes alone. After all, Charlie and Billy were best friends. They were like Jake and I. I was waiting in the waiting room still, my head in my hands, and I heard someone walking frantically down the hallway.

"Bella?" A familiar voice called.

I looked up, and was shocked at who I saw run over to me, and drop to their knees in front of me, pulling me into a bone crushing hug.


	13. Surreal

**BPOV**

"Jake" I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why didn't you tell me, Bella?" he asked, not letting me go.

"How did you know?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"Edward called me, actually." He pulled away slightly, but didn't release his grip. "Do you want to explain? Last time we spoke you were barely tolerating him. Next thing I know, he's panicked and frantic, telling me to get to the hospital because Charlie's sick. My dad called right after Edward did".

"I didn't want to ruin your happiness, Jake." He finally let go and sunk into the chair next to me, holding my hand. "I thought you were talking about Charlie in your voicemails, and when I called you, I was going to tell you, and ask you to come, but after talking to you, I just couldn't…I couldn't tell you. I didn't want you ruin you and Kristin's happiness. I couldn't do that to you." I looked down at my hands.

"Bella, Kristin has been in my family for 4 hours. You've been in my family for my whole life." He pointed out.

"Jake, really, you should go home. Thank you for coming, but I'm okay." I lied.

"Isabella Swan. Don't be ridiculous. I'm going to take you home. You need some sleep, and you need to eat". As he spoke, I knew that whatever argument I put up, I wouldn't win. That was fine with me, because at this point, my energy was in the negative numbers. I told Jake I wanted to stop by Carlisle's office to say goodbye, so he led me down the white hallway to Carlisle's office at the end of the corridor.

"So what's the deal with Edward, Bella?" Jake asked, the curiosity getting the best of him. I was dreading this conversation. He never let anything go.

"Jake, I can't do this right now". I said, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Bella, I just don't like you dating him, he's a player" he warned. I gritted my teeth, trying desperately to keep my patience.

"Jake. Stop it. Please? Edward has been amazing through this." I defended, pinching the bridge of my nose. I stopped walking and leaned against the wall for support. I was going to loose my cool, and I didn't want to do this in front of Carlisle.

"No, Bella. He's going to sleep with you, and then he's going to go back to ignoring you".

"Jake, he's changed. I've seen it with my own eyes. His family has even noticed the change". I said through clenched teeth. Why was Jake being like this? He was supposed to be my best friend. He was supposed to support me. I supported him in his quick and rash engagement. I wasn't engaged to Edward. I'd only gone out on a date with him. Hell, we weren't even "boyfriend/girlfriend" yet.

"He's a liar, Bella. You don't think he's used the same line on all those other girls, Bella?"

"No, I don't Jake. I trust him. And that should be all the information you need." I spat.

"Bella…" Jake warned again. I snapped.

"Don't 'Bella' me, Jake. I've had it," I began yelling at him, knowing I'd never get my point across. "I support your engagement, Jake. I'd like your support with Edward, I really would. But, make no mistake. I don't need it. If you are going to force me to choose between you and Edward, I choose Edward."

"Why? Because he's a rich hot shot?" Jake yelled back.

"No, Jake. Because Edward would never ask me to make that choice." I snapped back, and turned to go back to the waiting room, only to run smack into Carlisle's chest. I blushed like I have never blushed before, completely mortified at the idea that Carlisle had heard even a portion of that. I turned by head quickly to see Jake running towards the parking lot. Carlisle steadied me with his arms.

"Are you okay, Bella?" he asked, softly. I closed my eyes.

"How much of that did you have to hear, Carlisle?" I was afraid to hear the answer.

"The part where you stuck up for my son". I could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Carlisle. It was wrong of Jake to judge Edward like that". I apologized, my face still blushing slightly. Carlisle led me to his office this time, and motioned for me to sit in the leather chair across from his desk.

"Bella, don't ever apologize for someone else's behavior". He said, waving it off. I only nodded.

"Now, Esme has me under strict orders to bring you home tonight. You look exhausted. Also, what sounds good to eat? Esme said she can cook or she can order take out." He offered.

"Anything sounds fine," as if agreeing, my stomach growled loudly. Carlisle and I laughed.

"Alright then." He said, picking up the phone to call Esme. They were on the phone for a few short minutes, and then he hung up the phone.

"Alright, Bella. Let's go. We can talk about your father's condition on the way, if you'd like". He offered, as he slipped out of his white lab coat, and replaced it with a heavy black wool coat. He grabbed a file folder that was sitting on his desk, and we walked to his black Mercedes. The drive to the Cullen's was short. The second we stepped through the front door, my mouth watered. Whatever was cooking smelled heavenly.

"Hey!" Esme greeted us at the door and came over to give me a hug.

"Hey, Esme, thanks so much, for everything." I said, hugging her back. It made me miss my own mother. Carlisle and I had decided in the car to talk about Charlie once we were back at their house. That way, we wouldn't have to be interrupted. He gave me a brief summary in the car. Basically, the cancer wasn't as bad as it seemed. It would be treatable with chemotherapy and radiation, but it wouldn't be easy.

"It smells amazing, Esme". I said, hoping to mask the loud noises my stomach was making.

"Wonderful dear, now, let's go eat!" She lead me into the brightly lit kitchen, and to the table.

"Now, I made chilli and cornbread, because its comfort food, but if you don't like it, let me know, and we can whip something else up for you". She told me as Carlisle set the table.

"No, Esme. That sounds perfect, thank you." We all ate, and made small talk. She told me that the kids had called and were anxious to come home as well. I guess Alice had taken the liberty of e-mailing all my professors to inform them of the situation. I was thankful, I hadn't even thought of that. I couldn't believe that I'd only been in Washington for a few hours. It felt like days.

After dinner, we helped Esme with the dishes, and then Carlisle and I went up to his study to talk. He went through the thin file, and told me about every test they'd done, and what it meant. He said that if Charlie agreed to the chemotherapy and radiation, he had a decent shot at beating this. Apparently, stage four cancer was not the death sentence I assumed it was. But, Carlisle did say that Charlie would have to have someone drive him to his appointments for the chemotherapy for awhile, and then radiation treatments. That was when I decided to drop out of Dartmouth and move home to take care of my dad.

Esme told me that she'd cleaned Alice's room for me while I was talking with Carlisle. I thanked them both again, and went to Alice's room, nearly collapsing on the bed. It was a good thing that I was Alice's size, hopefully she'd let me borrow some clothes. I took out her cell phone and pressed "2", which was Alice's speed dial number. She answered on the second ring.

"Bella! How are you? Is everything okay?"

"Hey Ali, I'm okay, you're parents…well, your whole family is amazing, including you. Did you know that?" I yawned. I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't caught a word of that. She laughed, but I guessed that she'd understood.

"Thanks, Bella. We like you, too. Hey, I'm actually packing a bag for you right now. Is there anything in particular that you want me to be sure I bring?" she asked.

"When are you coming?" I was surprised. I didn't think they were coming for a few days.

"Actually, we're leaving late tomorrow night. The pilot needed a rest, but we're going to take off around midnight. But seriously, do you need anything?"

"Yeah, clothes. I don't really care…just sweatpants and stuff I guess, because I was real uncomfortable sitting around the hospital in my date outfit." I laughed.

"Oh, well, feel free to raid my closet. Mi closet is su closet." She laughed.

"Thanks Alice," I was relieved I wouldn't have to sleep in this.

"So how is he? Are you doing okay?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I only saw him for like a minute today, he was so exhausted. Jake's engaged…and then came to the hospital after Edward called and we got in a huge fight and Carlisle heard the whole thing." I explained quickly.

"I'm sorry Bella. I'm sorry he made you more upset than you already were. But don't worry, Edward, Jasper and I are coming soon. Emmett can't stay behind, because then he wouldn't be able to graduate, but he'll come out over the weekend or something."

"That's fine, Alice. You guys don't have to come; I don't want you to get in trouble". I felt bad that Edward, Alice and Jasper were going to have to miss out on classes just to sit with me, which sounded ridiculous. I could handle this by myself. She told me there was no point in arguing, so I thought of a few books I wanted her to bring, and then told her I needed to get to sleep. I found her pajama's in her closet, and found a pair of baggy navy blue sweatpants from Victoria's Secret: Pink and pulled them on, along with a white tank top. I threw my hair in a ponytail, and jumped into the large four poster white bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I didn't sleep very well that night, and I was basically a zombie the next day. It was all a blur. I don't remember most of it. I sat and talked to Charlie, and had to listen to several lectures about the importance of a college education and why I needed to get back to school. I just rolled my eyes and patted his hands. I didn't want to inform him of my decision to stay behind just yet. Like the night before, Carlisle drove me back, and Esme made dinner. I went upstairs to try to fall asleep around midnight, but gave up around 2am. I knew Alice and Edward would be home any minute. I tiptoed downstairs and made myself a cup of hot chocolate to wait for them. I saw the headlights flash into the driveway, and had to stop myself from running out to meet them. They whispered as they walked inside, weighed down with bags, as they dropped them to the floor the moment they stepped inside.

"Hey guys", I said softly with a smile. Their heads snapped up, and they ran over to me, both hugging me at the same time.

"What are you doing up? It's late," Alice scolded. They sat on the couch on either side of me.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep. Got a lot on my mind. It's good to see you both though," I said, wrapping them both in individual hugs.

"How's everything been going?" Edward said, rubbing my back soothingly.

"I'll give you two a minute; I'm going to show Jasper the guest room". Jasper came over then and gave me a quick hug, before disappearing up the stairs with Alice. Once they were upstairs, I turned to Edward, and rested my head on his shoulder.

"How'd it go? Did they find anything out yet?" He asked softly, speaking into my hair. It sent a shiver down my spine.

"No, nothing new. They're still doing every scan and test in the book, and he's really out of it. He's been sleeping a lot." I yawned, and Edward chucked.

"Something you should be doing." He scolded, half teasing.

"I wish I could, I can't sleep…I have too much on my mind to think about". I confessed. I was surprised at how easily I was able to talk to him.

"Well, lay it on me". Edward suggested.

"I think I have to drop out of school". I whispered, closing my eyes. I didn't want to have to see his reaction. Even though I wasn't facing him, I needed to close my eyes.

"What? Why?" Edward was shocked. I moved my head from his shoulder to rest on the back of the couch so I could look up at him.

"Because Edward, no matter what, he's going to need chemo and radiation. He can't be driving himself to and from those appointments. I don't mind, it's fine. I can take classes at a community college, and go away in a few years, after he beats this".

"Bella, your father wouldn't like that. Besides, we won't let that happen. We'll help you out. You forget that Carlisle is a doctor. He can go over your choices with you and Charlie and you can work something out. There's always a compromise. But no one is going to let you give up your dreams, least of all Charlie, I can assure you that." Edward said firmly. I smiled up at him.

"You have a way of calming me down. I like it". I told him as my eye lids began to droop. He chuckled, and helped me stand.

"Alright then, let's get you to bed." He scooped me up in his arms, and I was asleep before he even reached Alice's bedroom door at the top of the stairs.

**A/N: **Thank you Thank You Thank You for all your wonderful reviews. And for placing me on your alert and favorites list. It inspires me to write more than anything, so keep it up. I hope you are continuing to enjoy it.


	14. Renee

**Bella's POV**

Carlisle had finally gotten enough information from tests that we were able to sit down in a conference room to talk about next steps. Renee had finally arranged to get a flight out, and I was glad to no longer have the burden of making medical decisions. Her plane was landing at 4pm, and Alice was going to take me to pick her up at the airport. She was also going to rent a car. So far, Carlisle had helped me tremendously, explaining every aspect to me, but again, I was glad my mother could take over that role once she got here. Edward wasn't at the hospital yet, though, he was still sleeping when Carlisle and I left. He was still insistent that I return to Dartmouth as soon as humanly possible, and said that he would pull any strings necessary to ensure that happened.

"Alright Bella. I think we've got enough information to be able to seriously discuss next steps," Carlisle informed me, stapling his hands together, looking serious and professional. That couldn't be good news, so far he'd been friendly.

"Before you start, could I ask that you are completely honest? Don't sugar coat anything for my benefit?" Part of me _wanted_ him sugar coat it, but a larger part needed the truth.

He nodded solemnly. "Sure, Bella. I promise". He smiled then, but it didn't touch his eyes.

"Bella, Charlie indeed has stage four colon cancer. I'm so sorry. But, the good news is that it is treatable. We would do aggressive chemotherapy, and radiation. We'll do scans between treatments to track progress, and increase treatments if needed. Once we've shrunk the cancer enough, we can operate." He explained. I only nodded my head. Everything was so surreal. My dad was always the one to take care of me when I was sick, and I had known that someday it would be my turn to take care of him, I just hadn't anticipated that it would be so soon. I nodded at his prognosis.

"And you said you had an oncologist in mind?" I asked with a shaky voice.

He nodded, his face brightening. "Yes, the best in the country. His name is James Taylor, and he is a John's Hopkins grad." I wasn't sure how impressed I should be. I didn't know anything about medical school. I'd heard of John's Hopkins. He led me out of the conference room, and back to Charlie's room. I asked him for a few minutes alone. Charlie was awake and alert, and was looking much better this morning.

"Hey, Dad. You're looking good!" I laughed, sitting on the chair beside his bed.

"Thanks, Bells. I wish you would go back to school." He winced.

"You and Edward both". I laughed.

"Good man!" Charlie smiled. I was relieved to see him in such good spirits.

"Renee is coming today". I said, changing the subject. He winced again, but then smiled a little. They got along, for the most part.

"So that means you can go back to school!" He said with an excited voice.

"Dad. Stop it. I will go back school as soon as I know you are taken care of and not a moment before." I said firmly. He nodded, but still looked skeptical. "Believe me, Alice and Edward will drug me, kidnap me, and put me on a plane back to school if they have to." I added, laughing, for his benefit. Maybe now he'd leave it alone.

"The Cullen's have been great, Bella. They care a great deal about you". I nodded.

"They're amazing, dad." I agreed. He saw something in my eyes, but thought for a moment before he spoke.

"You're dating Edward, aren't you?" he asked. I was a little surprised by his question. Renee was the perceptive one, and Charlie was usually the clueless one; when it came to my love life, at least. I nodded shyly.

"I think so, yeah. We only had one date, but we never got to finish it". I said. He nodded.

"It's funny. Sue told me after you left how positive she was that you and Edward would get together". He laughed, and then it dawned on me.

"Where is Sue? Is everything okay?" I was alarmed. He patted my hand.

"Calm down, everything's fine. She's on a cruise with her extended family. She knows what's going on, and calls almost everyday. She's going to come straight here from the airport in a few days when she gets back". He assured me, and I calmed down.

"That's good." I nodded.

"So, tell me more about school. Do you like all your classes?" He asked, but I knew he had an agenda. He wasn't just asking me about school, he was trying to get me to miss school. He knew how much I loved to learn, and he must have known that part of me was dying to get back to my classes. I'd been in touch with my professors, who all said to focus on my dad and getting him well, and we'd talk about catching up when I returned to campus. I was thankful to have understanding teachers. I didn't have to worry about school, as well as taking care of my dad. I told him about my classes and my professors, and about how the Cullen's had bought Alice and I a house. He was both stunned and grateful. He must have been convinced at that moment that I would return to school, because he didn't mention it again. Alice stopped by around 2 to pick me up to get Renee at the airport. I kissed Charlie on the forehead and left with Alice. We got to the airport about an hour early, so we found a nice Italian restaurant for lunch. I wasn't going to lie to myself; it felt so good to be out of the hospital. After my meeting with Carlisle this morning, I was relieved. I knew that if the situation was hopeless, Carlisle would tell me so. Alice and I didn't talk about Charlie, or anything to do with the hospital, for which I was grateful. It fun to girl talk again, I hadn't realized how much I missed it. We finally got to talk about my date with Edward. She'd pumped him for information on their flight to Washington, and he hadn't said much. She did, however, tell me that he said it'd been his "best date ever", which elated me.

"It was a pretty spectacular date," I agreed. "Until we were interrupted."

"There will be more". She promised. I smiled and we paid the bill and headed to the airport to park.

We waited for Renee at baggage claim and I saw her before she saw me. She looked defeated and anxious. Her emotions fell away when we locked eyes, though. She ran over and hugged me.

"Oh, honey. I'm so glad I finally made it." She said, holding me tight.

"I'm glad you did, too, mom." I said, hugging her tightly. I pulled away slightly to introduce her to Alice. She kept an arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"Mom, this is my roommate, Alice. Alice, this is my mother, Renee". They shook hands politely, and we led her to the car. Carlisle had let us borrow his Mercedes for the trip. Renee was blown away by the car.

"Alice, is this yours?" She asked, completely amazed. She waved her hand.

"Oh no, I have a Porsche, this is my dad's car. He let us borrow it for the trip." Renee glanced at me, and I nearly burst into laughter. We drove her over to the rental car place where she could pick up a car. At her insistence, I rode back to the hospital with Alice, while Renee followed us. We made pretty good time on our way back, and she parked in the guest parking lot, while we slid into the parking space labeled "Dr. C. Cullen".

We walked quickly down the brightly lit corridors of the hospital. The sun was beginning to set, and it was getting darker outside. Carlisle was outside his room, writing something in a chart on a pull-down "desk" outside his door. He looked up as we approached.

"Well hello, you must be Renee." He greeted, holding out his hand for her to shake.

She reached out, and shook his hand. "Yes, thank you so much for all your help and for taking such good care of my daughter". She said, draping an arm around my shoulders and squeezing it. He smiled.

"It's been our pleasure, you have a wonderful daughter" he said, smiling at me.

"We like her." My mom shrugged, and we laughed.

"Would you like to say hello to Charlie? Then I can take you to the conference room and I can explain Charlie's condition to you, as I did with Bella earlier". He offered. She smiled and nodded in thanks. I waited in the hallway, wanting to give them a moment, as he led her into the room. Apparently, they wanted to have a talk with Charlie along, because Carlisle came to shut the door, smiling at me as he gently shut the door. I turned back to Alice, and we walked back out to the waiting room to find Edward reading a book. Alice laughed.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked him through laughter.

"I'm reading?" he said it like it was a question. I smiled at him, and took the seat next to him. He draped an arm around the back of my chair.

"How's your dad doing?" he asked.

"He's good. He seemed better today." I told him. He nodded.

"And your mother? Was her flight good and all?" I nodded.

"Yep, the drive to the airport was good. Alice and I got there a little early, so we had a really nice lunch. It felt good to be away from the hospital." I admitted. The Cullen's house was wonderful, but it felt good to get _away_ from the hospital. Our discussions even at the house all revolved around Charlie. It felt good to feel like a normal college kid again.

"That's good, I'm glad you two got to get away for a little bit". He agreed.

"So what are you reading?" I asked, trying to get a peak at the title. He held up the book so I could see the cover. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Wuthering Heights?" I tried my hardest to hold back laughter. He blushed.

"Well, you just…you raved about it, so I wanted to read it". He defended. I put a hand on his chest.

"Edward, it's okay. Don't be embarrassed," I reassured. "I'm so glad you wanted to read it." He returned his smile, and covered the hand that was on his chest with his own hand, holding it there. Before we could say anything else, Carlisle came out. He smiled, seeing Edward and I, and out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw him turn to wink at Alice. She beamed.

"Bella, Dr. Taylor is on his way here to see your father. I've spoken with your parents, and we are going to start treatment immediately. You kids can go back to school in a few days." I panicked a little.

"Already? But he…I can't leave him alone!" I cried. The arm that was resting around the back of my chair tightened, pulling me towards Edward. I was grateful.

"Bella," Carlisle reassured. "Sue is coming home in two days, and your mother is staying a week. He is going to be well taken care of. He has wonderful friends." Carlisle tried to reassure me, but the effort was lost. I was his daughter. It was my responsibility to take care of him. Edward spoke next; he must have read my mind.

"Bella," he said in a soft voice, trying to soothe me, "you have taken wonderful care of your father up to this point. Your mother and Sue can take over from here. You need to get back to school." He explained softly, and the tone of his voice calmed my anxiety. I only nodded slightly, and Carlisle pulled up a chair to sit in front of me. He place a hand on my right shoulder, as my left shoulder leaned into his son. Alice moved to sit on the other side of me, placing a hand on my leg. It felt wonderful to be so close to all of them.

"Bella, the best thing you can do for your father right now is go back to school. He's so afraid that you won't go back. If you are back at school, his mind will be at peace, and he can put all his energy into fighting the cancer". Carlisle explained. His words were so comforting that tears began to slip down my cheeks.


	15. Returning

A/N: Just to clear up any confusion, Dr. James Taylor is not in any way, shape or form, James. I just picked a random name. Also, there's reason Rosalie has yet to be in the story, a few of you have expressed concern at that. That's what you can look forward to in the next chapter. Secondy- Oh my gosh, the reaction to this story has blown me away. Thank you so, so much for reviewing, and for adding this story to your alerts and favorites. You have no idea how your reviews motivate me. Thank you.

**Bella's POV**

I was sidetracked on the plane ride back to school. I had been so sure of my decision to stay in Washington with my father. How had I been talked into going back, at least for the remainder of the semester? I blame Edward…dazzled me 'til I had no idea what I was agreeing to. I couldn't explain my relationship with Edward. It was weird, one day we hated each other, and then, all of a sudden we were on a date. I really made up my mind about him when I saw the way he reacted to my fathers news. He didn't have to be as wonderful and understanding as he was about the situation. If he Edward and his family hadn't have been so wonderful, I don't know how I would have gotten through the last week. _Had I only been gone a week_? The Cullen's made me feel like family; there was no awkwardness around them. Carlisle had explained all the medical jargon to me, and helped me make the best decisions for Charlie. He'd called in many favors to colleagues and friends to help out Renee, Charlie and I. I would owe the Cullen family forever for their help and kindness last week.

That was when I knew.

I was in love with Edward Cullen.

**Edward's POV**

I watched Bella from across the aisle. She was in a daze, staring out into the clouds. I didn't know what she was thinking about but I would have given anything to read her mind, if only for even a moment. I was glad this week was over, though I knew it was far from over for Bella. This was just the beginning. And if it was the beginning for her, it was the beginning for me. Her pain was my pain now. Her happiness was my happiness. I could tell that she was confused about what we were to one another. I wanted her to be my girlfriend. _Wait, no, that's a lie. _Correction: I wanted her to be my wife, but it might freak her out if I proposed after one date that we didn't even really get to finish. I wanted to go to her, and comfort her but I wanted to give her a little space to sort everything out as well. This was the first time she'd been alone since the ordeal started. I wanted to ask her, formally, to be my girlfriend but I didn't know how to do it. Sure, I knew how to get girls, but Bella was not just any girl. I couldn't impress her with grand gestures like I could the others. Bella was different. She deserved so much better than me, but I am too selfish to allow anyone else to have her. I could ask Emmett for help. After all, he'd been dating Rosalie for quite some time. He must be close to proposing, so he could surely help me find some romantic way to ask her to be my girlfriend. I could ask Alice, but that was risky. She'd make me go shopping for new clothes…but, she knew Bella quite well, and it might make Bella happy. If I could make Bella happy, it would be a small price to pay. I was betting on Alice.

**Bella's POV**

I don't know how long I was staring out into the clouds when I felt someone sink into the seat next to me. I turned to see Edward's sparkling green eyes staring back at me.

"Hey" he said softly. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, not at all, please do." I said, turning my back to the fluffy clouds to face Edward.

"How are you doing? Are you excited to be going back to school?" He asked.

I had to think about my response for a moment.

"Um, I'm not sure if I would use the word 'excited'. I'll be glad to catch up on my work but I still feel like I should be back in Washington with my family. I feel guilty. I know Charlie wants me to be at school, it's the only reason I'm going back. If he'd asked me to drop out, I would have done it in a moment". I said quietly. Edward placed a comforting hand on my knee.

"You're unlike any woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, Bella". He said, obviously surprised with my answer. Why was that so weird to him? He must have understood my expression.

"I just mean most people I know aren't as selfless as you". He added with a crooked smile. I nodded in understanding.

"So, I was wondering. We never got to finish that date. Could we try again? Maybe dinner sometime in the next few days?" he asked, sounding nervous.

"Of course." I agreed. How could I not?

"Just let me know what works for you. Get settled in, and then let me know". He said.

I knew he was being considerate, trying to give me space, but he'd been treating me like a fragile China doll since I got the call about Charlie.

"I'll only need a night or two to get settled". I told him. It was Tuesday night. He thought for a moment, obviously flipping through some kind of mental calendar.

"Well, how about Friday night? I'll pick you up at 8?" he asked.

"Sounds perfect. It's a date". I tried to smile, but my smile didn't seem to have the same effect on him as his did to me.

"Alright, I'm going to go talk to Alice about something. You okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good." I smiled up at him as he stood from the seat beside me. I was grateful that he was going to give me a few more minutes alone. As much as I wanted his company, a lot had gone on this week and it had all happened so fast. I'd barely gotten a moment alone to process it. I couldn't get past the fact that Charlie had cancer. I mean, Charlie? He was my father; so big and strong. I couldn't lose him. I wouldn't know how to exist in the world without him. And that's when I decided. He would be okay. He would be okay because he had to be. I also knew that no matter what, I would have the Cullen's. And that was the only thing that made the whole situation bearable. That and the fact that I knew Charlie loved me, now and forever.

We landed smoothly. Alice and Edward had been whispering back and forth for quite some time. Whenever I looked back to try to figure out what they were talking about, Edward would look up at me and wink. I'd blush and then sink back into my seat. Edward walked over to me, and offered me his arm. I blushed slightly, and hooked my arm through his, as he helped me out of the plane. Emmett picked us up on the tarmac. He hugged me, a very big brother-ly a hug, and almost cracked my ribs in the process.

"Hey Emmett" I squeaked as he set me down.

"Hey Squirt! How's the fam?" He asked, enthusiastically.

"Better, thanks!" I answered, as I slipped into the backseat. Edward sat next to me, and Alice sat in the front seat with Emmett. Alice had entirely too much energy, as she prattled on about shopping in the front seat. I scooted over to the middle, and gently laid my head on Edward's shoulder, falling asleep almost immediately.

It seemed like seconds later when Edward gently shook me awake.

"Bella? We're home." Edward said gently. I opened my eyes, a little disoriented. I looked around, but I didn't really recognize my surroundings. I looked to Edward for answers. Again, he read my mind.

"Alice didn't want you to have to answer questions from people right away. We're at the house Emmett, Jasper and I share." He explained, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Bless Alice for thinking of that. I knew the second I walked into the dorm, people would ask me why I've been gone so long. Edward helped me in the house and up the stairs. He led me to a large room that was decorated in navy blue and white. The bed looked so wonderful, I nearly cried. Edward must have noticed my expression and laughed.

"Alice went back to your dorm room to get you a few things for tomorrow," he explained, helping me remove my shoes and climb into bed. "My room is next door, and Alice will be back soon and will sleep in here with you. Don't hesitate to come and get me if you need anything okay?" He said, looking for me to acknowledge that I'd heard what he'd just said. Did I really look that tired? I nodded.

"Okay, I'll let you get some sleep. You poor thing, you looked exhausted," He said, cupping my check with the palm of his hand. I leaned into his touch and smiled. He leaned forward to kiss my forehead. I leaned back on the pillows as he pulled the down comforter up to my chin.

"Goodnight, Edward". I whispered as sleep took me over.

I did not wake up until late the next morning. I'd slept right through my first class but I didn't care. I'd slept better last night than I had in a long time. One more class wasn't going to kill me. My professor would understand. I rolled over to see Alice awake and staring at me. I jumped a little.

"Woah, Alice. That's slightly creepy." I laughed.

"Sorry. I was just worried that you died. You didn't talk or move all night, very uncharacteristic of you". She laughed as I blushed.

"Sorry. I slept so great last night. I don't want to go back to the dorms".

"I know. But we'll have our own house next year. We just have to finish out this semester." She promised. I remembered and was suddenly excited. I got ready for the day in the bathroom that adjoined to the guest room. I showered quickly, and changed into the clothes that Alice had brought for me. I decided to take the rest of day off from class to get settled in and catch up a little. I went downstairs and found a piece of paper with my name on it.

_Hey Bella-_

_Hope you slept well. I had to get to class, and then go to the library to study for a test. Let me know if you need __anything__, don't hesitate to ask. I'll have my cell phone on, even in class. I'll call you later. Welcome back._

_-Edward. _

I smiled at his thoughtfulness, folded the note up and stuck it in my pocket. I slipped on my shoes, and Alice met me in the front foyer. She locked up the house, and we drove back over to the dorms. We were able to sneak in without anyone seeing me, luckily. When I entered my room, everything looked exactly the same to me. Which was strange, because I was not the same person that had left it this way. I had somehow grown up in a week. I turned on my laptop, plugged my iPod in, playing a Muse playlist. Alice quickly threw her books in her bag, and finished getting ready for class.

"Alright, Bella, I have to get to class, but you call us if you need anything, okay?" She asked. I nodded, and she hugged me on her way out the door. Just as she was about to shut the door behind her, I remembered something.

"Oh, and Alice?" I called. She peeked her head through door.

"Yeah, Bella?"

"Thank you. For everything." She just smiled and nodded, shutting the door softly behind her.

I was so behind on schoolwork it wasn't funny. I almost rethought my plans with Edward. But, I needed to see him. I hadn't seen him since the night we'd arrived back on campus. We'd talked on the phone a few times, but I'd been so busy trying to catch up on reading and classes. My professors were all wonderful and understanding. They were doing everything they could to get me caught up before I could get too far behind. Alice and I had even gone shopping for a new dress to wear out to dinner with Edward. Apparently, she'd helped him plan this one, since she said that nothing I had at school with me was appropriate for where he was taking me. I was ready a little early, which worked out, because he was a little early, too. He handed me a beautiful bouquet of Casablanca lilies.

"Thank you, Edward," I said, quickly putting them in water. I grabbed a coat and my purse, and linked my arm through the arm he offered me.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, curiously. He smiled down at me.

"Nope. You'll see when we get there." He said as he held the passenger door of his Volvo open for me. I whispered a thank you and slid in, buckling my seatbelt.

I was taken aback when we got to our destination. It was beautiful. He'd taken me to a restaurant located right on the Connecticut River. It was cold out but I didn't care. We sat at the back of the restaurant, secluded from everyone else. The window behind our table looked out onto the river.

"So how's your father doing?" Edward asked after we'd ordered.

"Doing well! He said Dr. Taylor has been wonderful, and says that your dad stops by a lot to check on him too." I said. Renee had returned home yesterday, and left my dad in the hands of Sue Clearwater, his girlfriend. I reminded Renee that Carlisle would keep a close eye on him, and I think that made her feel better. I asked Edward how his classes were going, and he told me that he actually enjoyed going now, but only after I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone that. It was an absolutely perfect date. As we were finishing dessert, Edward looked up at me with a nervous expression.

"Can I ask you something, Bella?"

"Anything, Edward". I said, sincerely. Although, I was slightly scared.

"You've had me really rethinking my life, Bella. I've been a complete idiot, up till now, and I've only snapped out of it because of you. Would you do me the great honor of being my girlfriend?" he asked. I was glad I hadn't been eating or drinking at the moment, as I would have choked. That was the last thing that I thought he was going to ask. I nodded.

"I would love that, Edward." I smiled, and he lifted our intertwined hands, and kissed the front of mine.


	16. Rosalie's Secret

**Disclaimer: Twilight is property of Stephenie Meyer. **

**Edward's POV**

Bella and I had been officially boyfriend/girlfriend for two weeks, and it was better than I could have imagined. Not to say that it was perfect, we'd had our fair share of arguments, but it was usually because of a misunderstanding on my part. I'd never had a "girlfriend", and it was taking some getting used to. But, Bella was patient. It was funny how quickly she changed my life. I didn't even look at other girls anymore. Even when one of the girls I'd seen more than once (who thought _she_ was my girlfriend) showed up in nothing but a trench coat, lingerie and heels while Bella was over.

I was walking to Bella and Alice's after class when my phone rang. I picked up almost immediately.

"Hello?" I walked briskly, it was freezing. I was still about a five minute walk from Bella and Alice's dorm room.

"Hey bro. It's me." It was Emmett.

"Hey, what's up?"

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, it almost sounded like he was angry.

"Um, walking to Alice and Bella's, why?"

"No you're not. I'm picking you up".

"What?! Why?" I really wanted to see Bella. It'd been almost 12 hours since I'd seen her last. Alice made fun of us, since we decided to be exclusive, we'd been inseparable.

" I need to do something, and I need you with me. I also have to talk to you about something. Please Edward? I have to do this now." He sounded desperate. It was weird for Emmett to be in this kind of mood, not joking around. It must be serious.

"Alright, fine. Pick me up at the Union?"

"I'll be there in three minutes". And the line went dead. I ended the call, and dialed Bella's cell phone number.

"Hello?" she picked up on the third ring, breathless.

"Hey babe, it's me."

"Oh, hey! How's it going?" My heart beat faster at the sound of her voice.

"It's okay, but I'm so, so sorry to do this, but I can't come by now. Emmett's kidnapping me. I'd blow him off, but he didn't crack a joke once, so…" I trailed off, knowing Bella would get the idea. It was funny to me how close the two of them were so quickly.

"Oh no! Is he okay?" She sounded genuinely concerned. I laughed.

"I'll let you know. Do you have plans for dinner?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" she said, seductively.

"I'll pick you up at 7:30?" I asked.

"Perfect, see you then, baby." My gosh she was amazing.

I tucked the phone back into my back pocket, and ran over to Emmett's Jeep. I got into the car quickly, wanting to escape the cold.

"What's the emergency?" I asked as he peeled out of the parking space, and onto the main road.

"I told you, I need your help with something, and then I need to tell you something. But, I need you to help me first, because if we talk first, you may not want to". He admitted.

"Which one are you more nervous about?" I asked. He considered that for a moment, and then laughed.

"I'm not sure yet." We pulled into the parking lot, and I was shocked when I saw the name of the building.

"Emmett? What are you doing?"

"I need help picking out a ring for Rose". I smiled.

"Finally."

Emmett knew less about diamonds than I did. He had no idea what kind of band he wanted, and didn't know the difference between platinum and white gold. Further, he didn't know what shape diamond he wanted. Evidently, the jeweler had experienced this before, so Emmett picked out his ten favorites, and they gave us little index card sized pictures of the rings that included details to take home to decide.

"Hey Emmett, I have an idea." I said, as we climbed back into the Jeep.

"What's that?"

"Why don't we have Alice and Bella see if they can girl talk it out of her." I suggested.

"Oh my gosh you're a genius!" Emmett exclaimed. I laughed.

"I'll talk to Bella at dinner tonight. Maybe they can set up a girls night or something."

"Wait, Edward, before you talk to her, I need to talk to you. Can we go home to talk or something?" I was worried now, but I nodded, and we went back to the house.

We settled in the kitchen.

"Alright Emmett, out with it. You're making me nervous."

"I need to tell you something about Tanya. And Rose." Oh no, this could only end badly. I only waited for him to continue.

"Well, I guess Tanya and Rose got to be good friends when you two were 'dating'…and Rose really like her. She thought you two were perfect for each other. Then, I guess Rose talked to Alice, who kept telling her that she knew you would eventually give up your slutty ways to be with Bella. Rose got angry and called Tanya, and told her about Bella, and told her where she could find her." Emmett said so quickly, I had to work to keep up. And I was livid.

"WHAT?! What the hell was she thinking? How could she do that to Bella?!" I yelled.

"Edward, she feels terrible, she had no idea what had happened back then. I didn't tell her about all that went down until she came back and we had to get a restraining order. She feels absolutely terrible, that's why she hasn't been around lately." Emmett defended.

"Emmett, why are you defending this?!"

"Because she feels horrible, Edward. She never would have done that if she would have known." He explained, trying to calm me down. It wasn't working. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"If she apologizes and explains to Bella, and Bella forgives her, I will too." I told him, walking out of the room.

"Oh, and Edward?" he called. I poked my head back through the kitchen doorway.

"If you don't tell her the truth soon, I will". He threatened. I glared at him.

"You stay out of this, Emmett. I will tell her when the time is right. I can't just blurt something like that out". I yelled, and went upstairs to take a shower, to get ready for my date. I wondered how serious Emmett was about his threat.

**Bella's POV**

I pulled on my black and emerald green wrap dress, and Alice's boots that came just below the knee. I had no idea where he was talking me, but I was really excited. Things between us were so great. It wasn't always perfect, but I had a feeling that things would work out. Edward was right on time, but I could tell something was wrong. We got to the restaurant, a quiet bistro on the other side of town. We ordered, and I reached for his hand.

"Edward, is everything okay." He smiled at me.

"Fine, sweetheart. But I have a little mission for you and Alice". He said, leaning forward. My god he was sexy.

"Oh really?" I asked, leaning in, enjoying this little game.

"But you need to swear to keep it between you and Alice, and if you leak the news, I'm afraid I'll have to have you taken care of". He laughed, trying to be serious. I nodded.

"Well, Emmett and I went ring shopping today for Rose, and he realized he has no idea what kind of ring she wants", he said, pushing an envelope towards me, "these are his favorite rings. If you and Alice could maybe do a little girl talk, and try to gauge which one of these she'd like the best? We'd really appreciate it." He finished, and I tucked the envelope into my purse.

"Your secret is safe with me. We'd love to help". I agreed. He kissed my nose, and changed the subject.

About a week later, Alice and I had finally coordinated our schedules with Rose. I'd give Alice the envelope to look over. I'd yet to meet Rose, so Alice would be better at engineering the conversation. I was also a very bad liar, and was afraid that I would give it away if I tried to steer the conversation. Alice was much better. Rosalie was going to come over to our dorm room for a little bit, and then we were going out for dinner. She knocked on the door about five minutes early.

"Hi!" I greeted the beautiful blonde, that I assumed was Rosalie.

"Hi! You must be Bella. I'm Rosalie". She introduced herself, shaking my hand.

"It's so great to finally meet you, Emmett's told me so much about you. Come in". I said, opening the door wider so she could come in.

"Actually, Bella, could I talk to you for a moment?" She asked, suddenly nervous.

"Of course!"

"Bella, I owe you a very large apology," she said, wringing her hands. "You see, I knew Edward's ex girlfriend, Tanya, and I thought she was go good for Edward. I tried to get them back together, and I told her about you and where you lived. I'm so sorry she came and threatened you like that. I didn't know about what she did to Edward beforehand. Can you forgive me?" She asked, sounding very sincere. I was completely shocked. Was this why Edward had been so nervous at dinner that night?

"Oh, don't worry about it, of course you're forgiven". I told her sincerely. She was obviously very sorry, and no one had gotten hurt or anything. She pulled me into a tight hug. "Thank you, Bella." She said. We went back into the dorm room, and Rose and I sat on the futon. Alice came out of the bathroom then.

"Hey Rose!" She greeted, giving Rose a hug.

"So what's with the sudden need for a girls night Alice?" Rosalie asked, as Alice rummaged through her desk drawer.

"This". She said holding up 4 index cards. "These are the ones I've approved, which one do you want?" I was completely shocked. Wasn't that illegal? Rosalie didn't even bat an eyelash as she looked through the small stack.

"This one". She said, handing the card back to Alice, and threw the others back onto the desk. Alice showed it to me.

"What do you think, Bella?" Alice asked, showing me the ring. The ring was gorgeous. It was at least 2 carats. It was a square diamond, with smaller diamonds that framed it, with a white gold band. There was a wedding band to match. It was perfect, and even after only knowing Rosalie for 2 minutes, I knew it was perfect for her.

"It's perfect". I agreed, still completely shocked at Alice's methods of "girl talk". She must have noticed my shock.

"Oh, Bella. If you're going to be part of this family, you have a lot to learn". When she said that, I blushed. Rosalie cut in.

"Bella, don't be embarrassed. We all know you're going to marry Edward. Anyway, the boys have zero knowledge on anything pertaining to jewelry, so this was is just easier. We're good actresses; we are experts at acting surprised. You'll learn fast" Rosalie assured me. Alice picked up her purse from her desk.

"Alright, now, let's go get something to eat and talk wedding plans".

I had a lot to learn.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, lots of foreshadowing and drama in this one:) It's ending soon though, and I'm planning the sequel already, not to worry. And there will be some steamy sex scenes coming your way soon, as well. :) Thanks for the wonderful reviews, they keep me motivated. Just a warning, I have a big paper due next week, so I may slack on updates-I'm sorry in advance. I will update as often as humanly possible. **

NEXT CHAPTER: Edward's Secret.


	17. Premonition

Edward's POV

The girls had somehow gotten Rosalie to tell them what kind of ring she wanted, and Emmett had bought it almost immediately. At this moment, Emmett and I were still trying to perfect a plan for the proposal. Easter was coming up, and we were thinking a trip with the family might be a good idea. We weren't sure where yet, but we'd discussed Paris, Hawaii, and the Hamptons. All very different. We were also considering getting Bella and Alice's opinions on all this, but we didn't want them knowing too much. Emmett said he didn't trust the three of them. Once I saw the three of them spending so much time together, I began to get suspicious too.

It was a Sunday night, and Bella was locking herself in the library to study for a test she had on Monday. I was bored and going completely out of my mind staying home with Emmett. We were flipping aimlessly through channels when my cell phone rang. I looked at my caller ID. Alice.

"Hey Ali-what's up?" I asked through a yawn.

"Edward, I'm so glad you picked up!" She said, frantic.

"What's wrong?" I asked, slightly panicked myself.

"Well, nothing yet. Listen, Edward, I know that I told you I was going to let you tell Bella about…well, you know, everything on your own time, but Edward, I'm getting a bad feeling. I think that you should tell her sooner rather than later".

"Alice, I told you that I would. Please leave me alone about it."

"Edward, I am warning you. If she finds out elsewhere, this is going to end badly. I don't want you to do something stupid and lose her." She warned.

"Your heart is in the right place, Alice. But no one else is going to tell her, I am going to". I said, trying to use a warning voice.

"I'm not talking about our family, Edward. We won't ruin this, and I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like someone else is going to tell her. You have to do this now, Edward".

"Alice! Stop it! I will tell her. Besides, who else knows? I didn't even tell Tanya. Carlisle, Esme, you and Emmett are the only people that know. Relax". I warned, again. I was growing tired of this conversation quickly.

"Now, I have to go, Alice. I promise I will tell her soon", and I ended the call. I rolled my eyes at Emmett.

"She's never been wrong, you know". He cautioned. I only nodded.

The next weekend, Emmett was out of town, and Bella and I had the house to ourselves. I decided now would probably be an excellent time to tell her. She came over Friday night after dinner with the girls. Friday nights had turned into "Girls Night Out" with Alice and Rosalie. I was jealous at first, but I was glad that they were all getting along. Alice and Jasper were going to have her dorm room occupied for the better part of the weekend, and since Emmett wasn't home, I decided to take advantage of that situation. We put in a movie, and layed on the couch. My back was against the back of the cool, leather couch, and she was in my arms, her back pressed against my chest.

We hadn't slept together yet, and I was glad for it. Bella was not any other girl, and I wanted to take things slow with her. Not to say it wasn't a struggle, for both of us. I wasn't really watching the movie, I was focused on kissing Bella's neck, and the soft moans that were escaping her lips occasionally. She turned in her arms, pressing her chest against mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and locked her lips with mine. Her tongue ran over my bottom lip and then slipped into my mouth. I tangled one hand in her hair, and the other trailed along her spine. I didn't miss the small shiver from her as my hand traced down her spine, finally resting at the small of her back, pressing her closer to me. I groaned when I heard my cell phone ring.

"Ignore it" Bella suggested, through our kiss. I pulled away slightly.

"I'm sorry baby, I have to get this." I took the call, keeping her locked in my arms. I flipped to my back, and she rested her cheek on my chest. I ran a hand absentmindedly through her hair. It was Emmett, who had come up with another idea, and called to ask my opinion. He wanted to take her to a concert and propose to her on stage. I guess he didn't consider the possibility of Rosalie declining. I knew she wouldn't, I just like to tease him. Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door.

"Could you get that for me, love?" I asked Bella. She nodded happily, and danced off to answer it. She'd been living with Alice for far too long.

**Bella's POV**

I was slightly upset at Emmett for interrupting our steamy make out session, but I knew Edward wouldn't have answered the phone if it wasn't important. I opened the door, and what I saw made me gasp. There was a man, he was older, maybe late 40s, early 50s standing at the door. When I picked what Edward would look like when he was older, this is what I imagined him to look like. Did Carlisle have a brother or something?

"Hello! Can I help you?" I asked, in a polite voice.

"Yes. Is this…I'm sorry. Do I?" he stuttered, stumbling back to check the address on the house with the address he had written on a small piece of paper. I waited for him to speak.

"I'm sorry, is Edward around?" he asked. I didn't respond at first. I must have looked confused. "Oh, I'm sorry, how rude. I'm Edward Masen, pleased to meet you-" he paused, holding out his hand, waiting for my name.

"Bella. Bella Swan". I said, shaking his hand. I heard Edward's footsteps come up behind me, and I felt someone grasp my arm tightly and pull me away from the door.

"Stay the hell away from her" he yelled, venom coating his voice "What the hell are you doing here?" Edward yelled, his hands balling into fists at his sides. It wasn't until then that I was really able to look at the man. He gave me the creeps almost instantly, but I couldn't pinpoint why. The way he was looking at me from the corner of my eye made me cower behind Edward's tall and protective frame. He brought one hand back, and wrapped it around my waist, pulling me against his back. I pressed my face into Edward's back, not wanting to look at the strange man anymore. I was legitimately scared now. Edward obviously did not want this man within miles of me, much less a few feet.

"Do not come back here again, or I will call the police. There's a restraining order that says you cannot come within 500 feet of me." Edward warned.

"Oh yes, I can, I'm your-" and before he could finish, Edward slammed the door in his face, locking it quickly. He watched out the window as the man made his way back to the car. He turned slowly to look at me, and instead of being met with anger, I saw only pain and fear in his eyes.

"Edward? What is it?" I asked, wrapping myself in his arms, pressing my face to his chest. He didn't answer, and I noticed his heartbeat was racing.

"Who was that, Edward?" I asked, the curiosity getting the best of me.

"My father." He whispered.

* * *

**Alright, who saw that coming?? :) I am sorry this is so short, but I don't know if I can update tomorrow, and I didn't want to leave you hanging. I have the outline for the next chapter all worked out, so it shouldn't take me too long. Thanks so much for your favorites, alerts and reviews. You have no idea...I'm so overwhelmed at the love you all are giving to this story! :) 3 Chapters left!! Also, if you guys have questions about anything that's happened, or anything I made unclear, send me a review or PM and I'd be happy to answer them. Thanks again, and enjoy. Let me know what you think about this little bombshell. :) **

**NEXT: Bella's Reaction. **


	18. Shopping

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone. Okay, the ending of last chapter, and the subsequent story line was not based on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. I planned this event out weeks ago. Edward was not abused by his father, in any way, I assure you. I got the idea for this, because this is my brothers story. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but it won't be brought up again after this chapter. The next chapter will have two parts, and then it will be the end of this story.

* * *

**Bella's POV**

I couldn't quite understand Edward's expression. I was completely shocked. He led me back to the couch to talk.

"So Carlisle…?" I asked, not able to finish my question.

"Is not my real father. Esme was my mother's best friend. She died, somewhat unexpectedly when I was little, and my dad was an alcoholic. He never was really abusive, just neglectful. He never cared about anything I did, and Esme and Carlisle took care of me most of the time anyway, even when my mother was still alive. After my mother's quite sudden death, I was skeptical. The police assured me that it wasn't foul play, but I've never been sure. Anyway, when I was thirteen, my dad agreed to allow Carlisle and Esme to adopt me. I don't like to talk about it, or tell anyone about it, because I don't want anything to do with him. I've always been afraid he's going to take me away from Carlisle, even though I'm an adult…I don't want to see him, I don't want him involved in any part of my life, or involved with anyone in my life. I don't even like to refer to him as my father, because Carlisle is my father. _He _was just married to my mother when I was conceived." He explained calmly. Or at least, he was trying to keep calm. I held his hand tightly and nodded.

"Alright. Now, I'd really appreciate it if we could never talk about this ever again. Carlisle had a restraining order put in place on the entire family after I turned 18. Just in case." He said, finally making eye contact with me. I nodded once, again, not trusting my voice.

"Thank you" he said, sincerely kissing my forehead. "Now, Emmett has decided that he wants to take that little family trip to Greece for Spring Break. I know you'll want to see Charlie first, so if you want, you and I can fly back to Washington to visit him first. We can't get a direct flight to Athens from Seattle, we have to actually fly to Los Angeles to get a connecting flight." He explained, excitement coming into his voice. _How could he just be excited about this suddenly after seeing his father? _But, I didn't want him upset, and he didn't seem to be particularly upset. He'd asked to not talk about it, and I would honor that. I would never bring it up again if he didn't want to speak about it.

"Greece?" I suddenly realized what he was saying. Emmett wanted us all there when he proposed. I was touched that Edward had realized I'd want to see Charlie before we went anywhere.

"Yes", he said, beaming at my reaction. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Oh, Edward! That will be so romantic" I squealed, tightening my grip on him. He laughed at my reaction.

"And it'll be okay?" he looked worried suddenly. "I mean, we could spend the weekend with Charlie if you wanted." He offered.

"Edward, you're so wonderful," I whispered into his neck. I kissed it once, and pulled back to look at him. I softly kissed his lips once "Thank you for thinking of that. I think it would be great to spend the weekend with Charlie, and then we could fly out Sunday morning?" I suggested.

"Perfect. I'll book the flights tomorrow." He kissed me, and we picked up where we left off before Emmett's phone call.

The next day, Alice asked if she and I could go to dinner. I knew what she wanted to know, but I was hoping she wouldn't bring it up. I felt like I was betraying Edward for talking about it. Hell, I thought I was betraying Edward for even thinking about it. Once we sat down and had ordered, Alice's facial expression turned to one of concern.

"So, I heard you and Edward had an unexpected…visitor" she said, carefully. I only nodded.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concern still written all over her face. I smiled and nodded again. "Yeah, I'm okay." I assured her. To my surprise and relief, she dropped it.

"Alright, onto the important things. We need to go shopping." She bounced.

"Alice, please stop. I don't need to shop".

"Oh yes you do. That's why Rosalie is meeting us at the mall in a half an hour".

I gasped. I'd been hoodwinked yet again by Alice into shopping.

We ate quickly, and Alice dragged me into the mall to meet Rosalie. She already had several bags by the time we got to her. She was just as hyper as Alice was. I didn't think that level of energy was human outside of Alice Cullen, but I guess I'd been wrong.

"Alright, come on Bella," Rosalie said, pulling me into a bathing suit store. "You have some serious catching up to do."

"What? You two have already started shopping before this?" I asked. I thought the plans had just been finalized last night.

"Bella." Rosalie rolled her eyes at me. "Emmett is taking me to Greece to propose. Of _course_ Alice and I started shopping. We left when she got the call from Emmett". My jaw dropped.

"You know he's going to propose?!" I yelled. Both of them started laughing.

"Of course she knows. She picked out the ring, and now her boyfriend is taking her, and his entire family, to Greece". Alice said, continuing to drag me through the store, throwing bikini's at me. Once my arms were full, they pushed me to the back, where the fitting rooms were.

"Now go!" Alice said, pointing and tapping her foot. "We're waiting. Make sure to come out and show us." She sang.

"Alice, I'm not leaving that fitting room. If you want to see them, stand outside the door." They both groaned, but followed me to the fitting room, and sat on a bench outside of the fitting room. I put the first one on. It was red, and incredibly revealing. I think I'd have to lose about five pounds before I felt comfortable in it.

"Bella, lets go." Alice snapped. I opened the door, and their eyes widened.

"Bella. You. Look. So. HOT!" Rose said. I rolled my eyes and shut the door.

"You are so getting that". Alice laughed.

23 bathing suits later, I ended up getting 3 bathing suits. A red one, a blue one, and a black one. Rosalie and Alice had already bought bathing suits. They said we had one more store to visit, and I almost cried when I saw what store they were dragging me into now. Victoria's Secret.


	19. The Forgotten

**A/N: This is the first part of the end. Or shall I say the beginning? :) This was a really long chapter, but I wanted to give you the first half so you'd have something to read for now. The second half will be up tonight, I promise, I'm working on it now. It will be just as long as this, if not longer, and will span the Cullen's entire week in Greece. I'm starting the sequel as well, but am having a hard time coming up with some ideas, so PM or review me your suggestions if you have one. **

**Secondly, I dedicate this chapter to anyone that has ever lost a family member or friend to cancer. I wish this could have been your story. For those of you battling cancer, or helping a family member or friend battle the disease, you are my hero.**

**Thirdly, I still don't own Twilight. Just this story line. Also, if you're curious about the ring scenario? It actually happened, except funnier. **

**Bella's POV**

I have the most beautiful, most wonderful boyfriend in the history of mankind. We are flying "CullenAir", as Emmett has affectionately named it, to Washington to see my father. Currently, Charlie is at a Seattle hospital with Carlisle. Carlisle said Charlie is doing remarkably well; the chemo and radiation are doing their jobs. Charlie had a rough time handling the chemo at first, and Sue said he was pretty sick. When we landed, Esme picked us up at the bagged claim. She hugged me tightly as soon as I was within her reach, prying my hand from Edward's.

"Oh, I missed you, Bella!" she squealed, reminding me of Alice.

"I missed you, too, Esme!" I said excitedly. We pulled away, and she took Edward in her arms, hugging him as tightly as she had hugged me.

"You two look good!" She admired, leading the way through the doors into the cold rain of Seattle. We walked to Carlisle's black Mercedes, and Edward opened the front passenger door for me, giving me a heartbreaking smile as I climbed in.

"So do you, Esme!" I told her as she started the car.

"So how is school going, Bella?" She asked, weaving her way through airport traffic towards the large hospital.

"It's going well, actually. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to concentrate on school with everything going on here, but it's going well." She drove like her son. Too fast.

"And Edward?" She asked him, glancing at him through her rearview mirror.

"Good, I'm ready to graduate though. And I'm starting to apply to medical schools. I'll graduate next May, just in time". He said proudly. Esme beamed.

"We're so proud of you, Edward". She told him through the mirror. I turned in my seat to look at him.

"Yes, we are". I told him, and winked.

Esme pulled into the parking garage of the hospital and pulled into Carlisle's spot. Edward grasped my hand, intertwining our fingers together. He pulled our hands to his mouth and softly kissed my hand. She led us down the hallway of the hospital to Carlisle's office. Carlisle was speaking to a nurse outside his office, but ended that conversation when he saw us. He hugged each of us, and then showed us into his office.

"Alright, I'll make this quick, and then Bella, you can go see your father". He gave me a friendly smile, and opened a chart. I assumed it was Charlie's.

"Your father is doing remarkably well, Bella. The chemo and radiation are working well, and we're close to re-declaring his status as 'stage 3', all good news. He's finishing up his chemo treatment now, you can go see him if you wish". I jumped out of my seat, thanked Carlisle and held back the urge to run to the cancer wing. I'd only been here a few times, but I remembered it so well, I probably could have found Charlie blindfolded. Thanks to Carlisle, he was in a private room, dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, an IV flowing from beneath his shirt. He smiled brightly when he saw me walk in, and opened his arms. I had to resist jumping into them.

"Hey dad", I said, hugging him gently. I kissed his forehead, and took a seat in the chair next to his bed.

"Hey kiddo, how's school?" he asked weakly.

"It's good, actually. I'm glad to be on spring break though. I needed a break from all that reading". I told him truthfully. For someone with cancer, he looked remarkably well. He had shaved his head shortly after his diagnosis, to "beat the cancer to the punch", and it had started to grow back, a great sign.

"Ha, I never thought I'd hear you say you'd grown tired of reading". He chuckled, and I laughed along with him.

"True. I guess that's what college does to you". I shrugged.

"Guess so. How are things going with Edward?" He doesn't waste time. I smiled at the mention of my boyfriend's name.

"Really good, dad." I told him, trying to wipe the lovesick smirk off my face. Too late, he must have noticed, because his brow furrowed.

"You know, Billy mentioned Jake's pretty upset about the falling out two had." He and Billy were worse than women at gossiping.

"That's funny, I haven't gotten an 'I'm sorry' phone call". I said, shortly.

"Bella," he warned, and I felt like I was back in high school for a moment. "Make amends with Jake, please. Do it for me". Oh, it was _really _unfair that he was playing the dad card. I thought for a moment.

"I'll compromise, dad. When I come home for the summer, I promise that Jake and I will have a nice long talk, and I will make a legitimate effort to make amends". I said, honestly. I knew it would be a long, hard talk, and I didn't want to rush through it. As angry as I was with Jake, I loved him, he had been a dear friend for most of my life. My dad thought for a moment, and held out his hand for me to shake.

"Deal". He said, as I shook his hand. I nodded.

"So, guess who is completing his final chemotherapy treatment even as we speak?" Charlie asked with a sparkle in his eyes, biting back a smile. My jaw dropped and I jumped up, and hugged him with more enthusiasm than I should have. He winced slightly, and I continued to jump up and down, putting Alice to shame.

"SERIOUSLY?! You're done? That's amazing! Carlisle didn't tell me…" I shrieked. Again, putting Alice to shame. Charlie laughed.

"I asked him if I could tell you. I get a break for a few months, and then we're going to reassess a treatment plan." He explained, showing a smile that I hadn't seen since before he was diagnosed.

"That's so amazing dad," I said, hugging him, gently this time, to conceal the tears that had sprung into my eyes. He patted my back. "We're going out for dinner with the Esme and Carlisle, and I guess Edward too, to celebrate." He told me, and I smiled and nodded, completely amazed.

"Now, tell me about this trip you are taking". _Damnit. _And I thought he wasn't going to bring that up. He must have read my mind.

"You didn't think your dear old dad was going to forget about that, did you?" he winked.

I held a finger to him, asking him to hold on a moment, and went over to shut the door. He looked 40% confused, and 60% scared. He had the safe expression on his face now as he did when I asked him about sex a long time ago. I held back my laughter, and patted his shoulder.

"Relax, Dad. I just need to tell you _why_ we are going, and I don't want anyone overhearing. Especially since I don't know if Carlisle and Esme know. Emmett is proposing to Rosalie. He wants the whole family there, and he wanted to do it somewhere special." I told him. The expression on my face told me that Carlisle had no idea that this was the plan. Surely, Carlisle would have told Charlie if he had. It was like that dad code.

Charlie and I joked around for another thirty minutes before there was a knock at the door. Carlisle poked his head in.

"You okay with some more company?" Carlisle asked him. Charlie nodded. Esme and Edward walked in. Carlisle began to unhook my father from the machine. Charlie asked more about the trip, but was sure not to let on that he knew the purpose for the trip. Just as Carlisle was packing up the rest of the chemo supplies, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. _Emmett. _

"Sorry everyone, I need to take this." I stepped out of the room, and quietly shut the door behind me.

"Hello?" I answered, and Emmett breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh Bella, thank goodness you picked up. I've been trying Edward all day, but he hasn't picked up his phone!" He said in a panicked voice, on the verge of hysterics.

"Emmett, what's wrong? Is everyone okay?" I was suddenly scared for the answer.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, everyone's okay, we landed in Greece a few hours ago. It's beautiful, and totally perfect". He answered, and it was my turn to sign in relief.

"Oh, well good. Then what's the problem? You sounded hysterical when I picked up".

"Oh. Well. Okay, please don't laugh at me?"

"I make no promises. You laugh at me all the time". I pointed out.

"True, but this isn't funny." He said, seriously.

"Alright fine, Emmett. I promise not to laugh." I promised, hoping that I could keep that promise, as I knew it probably wouldn't be easy.

"I need you and Edward to fly back to school for me. I left something kind of important behind". He admitted vaguely.

"Emmett, I'm not flying back east because you forgot condoms." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Bella, please. Of course I didn't forget condoms. They were the first thing I packed". He answered, sounding exasperated.

"Oh, well then what did you forget?" I asked. He was quiet, and suddenly, it hit me.

"YOU DIDN'T?!" I exclaimed, clamping a hand over my mouth.

"Well…it depends on what you think I forgot…" he said, laughing nervously.

"You forgot the ring, didn't you?"

"Yes." He admitted in a soft voice. "I didn't want to pack it first, because I knew Rose would go through my bag. She always runs out of room in her suitcase, and then has to re-pack mine to fit her shit into my bag. I wanted to wait 'till the last minute, but she waited until the last minute…and well, you know the rest". He admitted. I felt really bad for him, he sounded seriously embarrassed.

"Fine. My dad finished chemo today so we're going out to celebrate-" he cut me off there.

"Oh Bella, that's wonderful. Tell him congrats for me, will ya?" He asked, and I was touched that he was as concerned about my father as I seemed to be.

"I will, thanks Em." I said, trying to get the tears out of my voice. "Now, where is this ring?" I asked, and he chuckled nervously again.

"You forgot where you hid it, didn't you?" I guessed.

"No. It's in the drawer of the liquor cabinet". He paused, but then continued. "Yeah, I'm like 95% sure that's where it is."

"EMMETT? What the hell is the matter with you?"

"It's not my fault!" He defended, "Rose was spending the night, and I didn't want her to find it, so I kept moving it around". I groaned in response.

"Fine. Edward and I are going to dinner, and then I'll see if we can get the jet to take us back to school quickly to get the ring. We'll call you once our plans are definite." I paused for a moment, wondering how to do this without Rose finding out.

"Alright, here's the plan", I said, growing excited for the adventure. This was so James Bond. Well…kind of. "I will call you, and tell you our flight information for Greece when we are leaving. When we have the ring, we'll call to ask how the trip's going. How about that? I know it's not very creative, but you didn't give me much time to come up with fun code words." I said, laughing a little.

"Thanks so much, Bells. I'll owe you two forever. Seriously, I'm making a speech at your wedding". He laughed, and I rolled my eyes. Why did people keep saying stuff like that?

We talked some more about how things were going, and then hung up. I went back to my dad's room, and he was standing now, completely disconnected from the chemotherapy machine. I smiled at the sight.

"Emmett said congrats, dad". I told him, walking back into the room, and slipping my hand into Edward's.

"Oh, that was Emmett?" Esme asked excitedly. "How do they like Greece?" she asked.

"Great! He just called to say that they had gotten there safely, and they all love Greece so much they're contemplating moving there". I said with a laugh. I knew I was a terrible liar, but I was hoping Carlisle and Esme were gullible. To my great relief, they were. My father and boyfriend, however, were not. They both gave me questioning glances, but I shook my head ever so slightly, and they both didn't say a word. We loaded up in cars, and Edward and I got to drive alone. Esme and Carlisle rode in his car, Charlie in his, and Edward and I took the Jeep that Carlisle had driven to the hospital earlier. As soon as Edward shut his door, he turned to me.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked. "You're a terrible liar, by the way". He said he buckled his seatbelt. I laughed and put mine on as well as he started the car.

"Your parents didn't seem to think so." I laughed as he pulled out of the parking spot, and maneuvered his way through the parking garage onto the busy streets of Seattle.

"My parents were too wrapped up in each other to notice." He countered. I nodded.

"Emmett called."

"You said that" he said, laughing.

"I thought I was a terrible liar?"

"Touché. That part I knew was true. But he didn't call to say he was safely in Greece, did he?" He asked. I really loved having this secret.

"No, he didn't. He said he's been trying to call you for quite some time, but you didn't pick up." He nodded, and remembered his phone in his back pocket. He pulled it out, and switched it on. "I forgot to turn it on after we landed." I looked at me, and waved his hand, motioning for me to continue with my story.

"Oh this is too fun! I can't just _tell_ you. I have to draw this out!" I squealed, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh, all right, but I'm only telling you for the sake of time". He looked confused at that.

"So, Emmett called because he forgot something. He needs us to fly back and get it for him." I said, vaguely, enjoying this too much to just come out with it. Edward rolled his eyes.

"Call him back and tell him that he can use one of mine". He blushed as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and he looked slightly panicked. Now it was my turn to be confused.

"Wait, one of what?" I asked, and his blush deepened. This was a nice change of pace. Usually I was the one blushing crimson. He had never looked so sexy. I licked my lips subconsciously.

"Oh, nothing. What did he forget?" He asked, trying desperately to recover. Then it dawned on me.

"You thought he meant condoms, too!" I laughed, but then, something dawned on me.

"Optimistic, are we?" I laughed, and he began blushing again. "That's a lovely color on you". I said seductively, leaning over to kiss him on the neck.

"Bella," he moaned, swallowing audibly. "Please don't do that, I don't want to get into a car wreck." I smiled and pulled away.

"No, he didn't forget condoms. He forgot the ring". I told him, not wanting him to be embarrassed. Edward burst into laughter. For Emmett's sake, I was glad he got through to me instead of Edward. Edward would have made him feel worse about the situation.

"Edward…" I warned, trying to hold back my own laughter. "He really needs us to do this. Could we fly back tonight, and sleep a little on the plane, and then fly back here in time for tomorrow morning?" I suggested as he slowed his laughter. He grasped my hand, and interwined our fingers, and brought it to his lips. He softly kissed my hand.

"Of course, I'll call the pilot from the restaurant. We'll need an excuse for my parents, though." I was surprised at how quickly he agreed.

"Wait, there's something else. Emmett isn't 100% sure where exactly the ring is". Edward laughed again, shaking his head.

"Of course he isn't. Because that would make our job easier". He rolled his eyes.

We arrived at the restaurant at the same time as Esme and Carlisle.

"Go ahead, baby", Edward nodded toward the restaurant as he began dialing. "I'll be right in. Just tell my parents I was on the phone and sounded mad." He winked at me. "I think I have a plan, but I have to tell Em about it first, and then I'll call the pilot." I nodded, and leaned over to kiss his cheek, and got out of the car, following Edward's parents into the restaurant. Carlisle looked at me skeptically.

"What's Edward doing?" he asked.

"He's on the phone with someone. I think it's Emmett. He sounded mad." Carlisle rolled his eyes.

"Sometimes those two fight like they're kids again". Esme told me, taking her husbands arm, and led us into the restaurant. Charlie was waiting inside.

"Hey kiddo," he said, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "Where's that boyfriend of yours?" He was in a good mood, and I was loving it.

"On the phone". I answered, again, I couldn't lie to my dad, he'd know about it. I gave him a pleading look, and he didn't ask anymore questions. The restaurant was a quant Italian place that made me feel like I was in Italy. Though, I couldn't really say that, as I had never been to Italy. The atmosphere was nice, though, and the hostess sat us in a corner booth. We chatted about nothing in particular before Edward came over, looking legitimately annoyed. Damn it, he was a good liar.

"Hey guys," he huffed, as he slid in next to me.

"What's wrong, Edward?" Esme asked, concerned.

"I have to go back east after dinner. I forgot my passport." Edward said, sounding legitimately angry. _He's good_, I thought to myself. I wanted to aid him in his lie, but I knew the moment I opened my mouth, it would all be over. I had gotten lucky with Edward's parents so far, and I didn't want to push my luck. Eventually, they'd see what a terrible liar I was.

"Oh Edward," Esme said, sadly.

"It's okay mom, I'll fly back tonight after you go to bed, sleep on the plane, and be back before you wake up," Edward assured. "Bella, will you come with me, keep me company? I don't want to fly alone," Edward said, desperately. I nodded, smiling slightly. Even Charlie looked like he was buying it. Maybe I was getting better. Or, maybe it was the fact that I wasn't speaking. To our relief, Carlisle changed the topic, and we toasted to the end of Charlie's cancer treatment for a few months. It was a fun dinner, and I didn't want it to end. Before I knew it, Edward and I were driving back to the airport. The second the pilot closed the plane door, Edward assaulted me. I laughed through his lips.

"What?" he asked, pulling away slightly.

"Eager?" I asked, still giggling. He just kept kissing, and pulled me down onto the couch, rolling gently on top of me. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and I rested my head on it. His other hand slipped under the hem on my shirt, lightly tracing the waistband of my jeans. As our make out session grew, his hand slowly slipped up my spine, fingering the clasp of my bra. I slipped my hand into the back pocket of his jeans, and pulled him closer to me, needing to feel him against every curve of my body. He moaned into my mouth. I took his tongue gently in my teeth, and rolled on top of him, careful not to knock him off the couch. His hands moved to the back of my thighs as I began to suck on the tip of his tongue. Gently pulling it against my teeth. Just then, the pilot announced we were landing. Edward's eyes were wide as I climbed off of him, his breath coming in gasps.

"Breathe, Edward". I told him, helping him sit up.

"What…the…hell…was…that?" he asked, smiling crookedly. I smiled seductively, and leaned closer to him. Nibbling on his earlobe.

"I thought I'd practice on your tongue first…" I said seductively. When I pulled away, his facial expression was priceless. For a moment, he looked like he was going to tear my clothes off, but then his expression smoothed into a blank mask.

**Edward's POV**

_Well then, two can play at that game. _I took the hand that was resting on her knee, and slowly, gently, barely touching her, trailed it up the inside of her thigh, stopping just before touching her where she wanted me.

"You'll pay for that, later" I teased her. She got me all worked up, and knew that we wouldn't be able to finish what we had started. _Yet_.

I had a car waiting at the airport, and Bella and I hurried to get to the house Emmett and I shared. We raced into the house to the liquor cabinet. I checked the drawer he said he had hid it in, but it wasn't there. _Of course not. _Bella ran to his room, and began looking in all the drawers. I looked in the entertainment center drawers, and behind books in the bookshelf. Bella came running down the stairs.

"Found it!" She called.

"Where was it?" I asked, relieved, as we locked the house back up, and got back into the car.

"It was behind a karma sutra book on his bookcase in his room," she laughed. I rolled my eyes. What a perv. Then again, it was brilliant. He'd told me Rose had flat out refused to do anything in that book, so she was sure not to look behind it.

We made it back to the airport in record time, and we both fell asleep in each others arms on the way back to Washington. We woke up feeling better after the pilot had landed the plane, and we drove back to Bella's house, where I dropped her off to spend more one on one time with her father. We were leaving for Greece together the next morning, and she wanted to spend the day alone with her father. When I got back to my parents' house, they were both awake, sipping coffee in their pajamas at the kitchen table.

"So, what did Emmett forget?" My mom asked, winking at me. I looked at her, shocked. I was a terrific liar. I prided myself on that.

"What-how?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Your girlfriend is a terrible liar. I like that about her". My mother laughed, getting up from the table. She kissed my hair as she passed and left the room.

"He forgot condoms, didn't he?" My dad laughed. I laughed in response, as well.

"That's exactly what Bella and I thought. But no. That isn't what I forgot." I told him honestly. I loved my relationship with my parents. I knew that I could talk to them about anything, and there would never be any judgment. They were parents though, so I occasionally got a lecture, but again, never judgment.

"Then what did he forget?" Carlisle asked, confused.

"Dad…" I said, conflicted. He understood immediately, and held up his hand.

"It's alright. Brotherly loyalty. I get it". He laughed, and refilled his coffee cup.

"So, about Charlie…is he really doing well?" I asked, knowing he'd may not tell Bella the exact truth, but I knew he'd tell me.

"He's doing wonderful, it's remarkable. In my career as a doctor, I've never seen anyone handle cancer treatments as well as he is. It's mindboggling. I wish all my patients faired this well. He's very lucky". Carlisle said, sadly. "Give me your word you won't tell Bella what I'm about to tell you?" He said, seriously. I nodded my head in agreement.

"I expect him to make a full recovery. He's on his way to remission, and I'd say at this rate, we'll be able to declare him cancer free at the five year mark". Carlisle said with excitement.

"That's great dad!" I was excited, but I felt bad I couldn't tell Bella. I knew why, though. We couldn't let her get her hopes up, and then not be able to deliver on a prognosis like that.

I went up to bed around 10am, hoping to take a short nap, since I wouldn't see Bella until the next morning. I put my arms behind my head, and thought about my gorgeous girlfriend. I was excited for this week. All I could think about was that sexy move on my tongue she did on the plane earlier. I'd have to thank Emmett for being stupid later. As I thought about the upcoming week, in Greece, I realized that I was ready. But was she?

* * *

**What do 'ya think?? Also, Edward isn't proposing in Greece, so don't get your hopes up. **


	20. Just the Beginning

_**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, there's a pretty long lemon in this chapter, as requested. I put a warning where it starts and ends in case you want to skip over it. I must warn you, I haven't had sex, so I couldn't speak from experience, I just had to study a lot of other fan fic Edward/Bella sex scenes. Let me know how I did. I'm really sorry if it's bad, but I wanted to make it more than just sex for them. Alright, without further redue, the last chapter. I've also posted pictures of Rose's ring and most of the clothes on my profile as well, if you are interested. **_

_**Sunday March 22**__**rd**__**, 2009-Bella's POV**_

Yesterday with Charlie was perfect. We watched a baseball game and ordered pizza. Typically, I didn't like watching the game with Charlie, but it was father/daughter bonding, and I didn't care what we did, I was just glad that he was able to be home. Early the next morning, Edward picked me up. He looked amazing in a white button down shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, jeans, and brown leather flip flops. I had on a blue cotton dress that Alice and I had bought for the trip. Edward carried my bags to the black Mercedes while I said goodbye to Charlie. The next time I saw him would be when I came home for the summer. I held back my tears, and climbed into the car as Edward shook Charlie's hand before getting into the car. I waved as we pulled out of the driveway. I grasped Edward's hand in mine and rested it on my lap. I traced soothing circles with my thumb on his wrist. The ride to the airport was mostly quiet, but it was comfortable silence. We picked up Carlisle and Esme and were on the plane, and began our journey to Greece quickly.

We landed quite some time later, and I had slept through the majority of both flights, as did Edward. I had a feeling I was going to love Greece. It was beautiful even from the air. Even the airport was beautiful. I gushed to Edward about how gorgeous it was, and he just rolled his eyes. Finally, while we were standing at baggage claim, he got sick of it. He put his hands on both of my shoulders, and kissed my forehead.

"You love Greece. Everything about it is beautiful. I got it". He laughed. Carlisle and Esme had their arms around each other, and weren't paying attention to anything. It was so cute. I wrapped my arms tightly around Edward. I wondered if Edward and I would be that happy 30 years from now.

Twenty minutes later, we were in a car on our way to the villa that the Cullen's had rented. The four of us were tightly squeezed in the back of the car as it made its way through the roads of Athens to the remote town we were staying in. I was practically on Edward's lap, but he didn't seem to be minding.

"Is this your first time to Greece, Bella?" Esme asked politely. Carlisle had his arms around his wife's waist.

"Yes, it's actually my first time being out of the country!" I laughed.

"Well we're glad we could be with you!" Carlisle said, peering around his wife.

"I'm glad you were the ones I was with, as well" I told him honestly.

We pulled around the corner and into a circular driveway of an upscale resort around 8pm local time. The Cullen's had rented a Villa for the "kids", and Carlisle and Esme had their own villa. I wondered how crazy our villa was going to get, but then realized it was a stupid thought. It was going to be out of control. Edward helped me out of the cab, and I linked my arm through his as we walked into the amazing lobby of the resort. Edward chuckled lightly at my response. I was glad that I had chosen to wear ballet flats, as I surely would have slipped on the linoleum floor. As we looked around the lobby, Carlisle and Esme checked in. Just then, Edward and I spotted Rosalie and Alice entering the lobby weighed down with shopping bags. Edward and I laughed. Of _course_ they'd just returned from shopping.

"Hey guys!" Alice greeted, pushing her Jackie-O sunglasses on top of her head.

"Hey!" I said, hugging both of them as the approached. Alice winked at Edward and he smiled. Suddenly, I felt very, very scared.

Alice and Rosalie led Edward and I to the villa. Edward was carrying our bags. There was a shuttle that took us most of the way. It was gorgeous. Words cannot describe how gorgeous it was. (**A/N**: Picture in profile). Emmett was at the main pool bar with Jasper, so Alice gave Edward and I a quick tour before slipping into the bathroom to change. Edward and I were standing on the balcony, looking into the water of the sea that was sparkling like diamonds.

"Alright guys, we're going down to the main pool. We have our cells if you want to come join us, but we'll be out the better part of the night". Rose said, winking at me before she turned to follow Alice out of the villa. What the hell was going on here?

I turned to Edward again, who was smiling.

"What are you up to?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist. His hands slowly traveled down my arms, making the hair on my arms stand on end. He kissed my forehead, and pulled me close to his chest. He leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked, keeping one arm wrapped around my waist, and the other pulled one of my hands in his, which he held to his chest. He began moving slowly, not waiting for my answer.

"There's no music, Edward." I whispered to him. Then, he began singing a familiar song.

_Never knew I could feel like this  
Like I've never seen the sky before  
I want to vanish inside your kiss  
Every day I'm loving you more than this  
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings  
Telling me to give you everything  
Seasons may change, winter to spring  
But I love you until the end of time_

"Bella…I love you." he whispered in my ear. I pulled back, completely amazed.

"I love you, too Edward". I told him, kissing him passionately. He pulled me closer, but continued singing.

_Come what may  
Come what may  
I will love you until my dying day__song__ I'll be there by your side  
Storm clouds may gather  
And stars may collide  
But I love you until the end of time_

Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place  
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace  
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste  
It all revolves around you  
And there's no mountain too high  
No river too wide  
Sing out this

Come what may  
Come what may  
I will love you until my dying day

Oh, come what may, come what may  
I will love you, I will love you  
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

Come what may  
Come what may  
I will love you until my dying day ("Come What May" from Moulin Rouge)

"Would you like to see our bedroom?" As soon as the word 'bedroom' was out of his mouth, I felt moisture between my legs. I couldn't answer. I tried to speak, but I couldn't. He smiled, and scooped me up in his arms, bridal style. He carried me through the French doors, back through the villa and into the back bedroom. He opened the door slowly, careful not to drop me, and carried me in. The room was white and robins egg blue. It was beautiful, and absolutely perfect. There were candles lit all over the room, and Edward dimmed the lights. He set me down softly, and pushed my hair off my shoulders.

_**WARNING: LEMON STARTS HERE…**_

"I'll be right back. I'm going to slip into something a little less comfortable, and a little more slutty," (I totally stole that quote from Season 8 of Friends). I couldn't look at his facial expression, or I wouldn't make it to the bathroom. I grabbed my small roller from its place by the door, and slipped into the adjoining bathroom. I pulled out the lingerie Alice had helped me pick out. It was a blue ruffled baby doll. It was classy, but sexy, and most of all, it wasn't too revealing. I needed to ease myself into the lingerie idea. I slipped on the matching panties, and touched up my lip gloss, and fluffed my hair. I emerged from the bathroom before I could lose my nerve. I had the pleasure of seeing Edward's jaw drop when he saw me. He had unbuttoned a few buttons of his shirt to reveal his perfect, tanned chest. I walked over to him, slowly, and let my hands travel up his chest before locking around his neck, pulling his lips to mine. He slowly walked over to the bed, and I sat down, and scooted to the middle, my lips never leaving Edward's. Edward sat against the headboard, and I knelt between his legs. I unbuttoned his shirt, and slipped it off his shoulders. He shrugged out of it, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me against his body tightly. We changed positions so we were lying down, and I began to unbutton Edward's jeans. He lifted his hips so I could pull them off. He was only wearing his black boxer briefs. I could see his erection through it, and was suddenly worried. He looked…big. I recovered quickly, not wanting him to see my anxiety. I crawled back up to him, and kissed him lightly on the lips before trailing my kisses along his jaw line and over to his ear. I kissed the hollow beneath it, and whispered "I seem to remember making you a promise on the flight back east". He groaned, and I smiled. I kissed down his neck, and shivered as he trailed a hand down my still clothed spine. I kissed his collarbone, and trailed down his chest and ribcage, then his stomach. I hooked my fingers into the waistband of his boxers, and pulled them down, revealing his erection. I think that I audibly gasped, because Edward chucked a little. I couldn't lose steam now. I had to just do this, and forget my nervousness. I smiled up at him seductively and took him in my mouth. Just the tip at first, then slowly sucking up until I couldn't fit anymore in my mouth. Edward grasped the sheets, balling them in his fists as he moaned loudly.

"Oh…Bella…" he gasped. I gently drug my teeth down his shaft, nibbling carefully at the tip. I repeated the process again, and Edward began panting. I knew he was close, so I took him deeply in my mouth again, and once he came, I swallowed quickly. When he was done, I licked my lips and climbed back up to him. His eyes were wide, and he was panting, holding tightly to the sheets still. I bent down to kiss his bottom lip.

"How'd I do?" I asked, softly. His eyes darkened, and he rolled me over, so I was on the bottom and he was on the top. It was then that I realized I was still in the blue lingerie. He kissed me passionately, then down my neck and chest. He softly pinched my nipple, and it hardened against his warm palm. I moaned, and arched my back, pressing into his touch. He smiled. He kissed the valley between my breasts, and then ran a hand over my hips to grasp the hem of the baby doll. I sat up, and raised my arms, allowing him to pull the nightgown over my head. I was left in only my panties, which were soaked through by now. I laid back on the bed, my head resting on a down pillow, Edward hovering over me. He ducked his head back down, and he nipped at each of my nipples before kissing back down my stomach to the waistband of my panties. He slipped them down my legs, and discarded them on the floor. He looked up at me then.

I was sure that I was blushing all over my body.

"Bella...you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen". He said, breathlessly. I smiled. At that moment, I wasn't self conscious, and I didn't blush. I loved him, and I was ready to share myself completely with him. He kissed the inside of my thighs, and I tipped my head back, pressing it into the pillow. He put one hand on each of my knees, and pulled them apart. I squeezed my eyes shut, anticipating what was coming next. His hand traveled up my thigh, and softly spread me open wider. I moaned. His finger circled my clit, and I moaned, arching my back. Slowly, he inserted a finger into me, pumping me softly. Then, his tongue replaced his finger, traveling from my clit to inside of me. I screamed out in pleasure, and his hands held my hips to the bed. I screamed his name as I came, and he licked up every last drop of moisture.

I pulled him back up to my lips, needing him now. I couldn't wait any longer. He pulled away from the kiss to reach into the nightstand. I put my hands on his chest.

"Baby, it's okay. I've been on the pill for over a year". I told him. He smiled, and kissed me again. He pulled my knees apart again, and settled himself between my legs. I took a deep breath, and he pushed his tip in slowly, and I gasped. He stopped, and I looked up at him.

"Bella, if you want me to stop, just say the word, okay?" He said, softly. I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut again.

"Bella," he said again, still gently. "I'm serious. If this hurts too much, let me know. I'll go slowly". He assured me, and I nodded again. He pushed in a little more, and I wrapped my hands around his biceps, crying out as he pushed deeper. He paused as a tear slipped down my cheek.

"you okay?" he asked, patiently. He was amazing. I smiled, and said "yes." I wrapped my legs around his waist, helping him push into me deeper. My head fell back against the pillows again as I moaned loudly. We picked up a pace, and I lost myself in Edward's eyes. We didn't last long, but we climaxed together, and he collapsed on top of me, and then rolled to his side, pulling me onto his chest as he rolled onto his back, panting. He kissed my forehead.

_**END OF LEMON**_

"I love you". He said.

"I love you too. That was…amazing. Though, amazing doesn't really sound like the right word either". I told him as he pulled the white sheets and down comforter over us. I fell asleep feeling more complete than I ever had. It was as if I was walking around, half empty all this time, not knowing it, and now, I had found my other half.

**Monday, March 23****rd****, 2009-Bella's POV**

I woke up, still on Edward's chest to light streaming into the windows. The sheet was resting over our waists, but I wasn't self conscious. As I looked down over our naked bodies, I didn't blush. _Well that's a first…_I snuggled closer to Edward's chest, and his arms tightened around me. I craned my neck a little to kiss his nipple. He moaned, and opened one eye, squinting at the bright sunlight.

"Good morning, love", he said softly, kissing my hair, running his fingers through it.

"Good morning". I said, cheerfully. He looked at me skeptically.

"Why Isabella Swan, you sounded like Alice there for a minute". He mocked. I laughed into his muscular chest.

"No, just had a really good night last night". Just then there was a knock at the door. I panicked, and pulled the sheet and comforter up over my shoulders. Edward laughed.

"Yes?" He shouted.

"Pool time you two! We're leaving in 20 minutes!" Alice called through the door. Edward pulled my chin up to look at him.

"Love, they know about last night," Okay, now I was blushing. "Who do you think set the room up with candles?" He asked, trying to calm me down. I shook my head.

"No, I know that. Who do you think helped me pick out the lingerie?" I laughed. I wasn't embarrassed at the thought of his family knowing we'd had sex, they'd know just looking at us, I was sure. My face would be a dead give away. Edward laughed then.

"Then what are you blushing over?" He asked, cupping my cheek.

"I was afraid it was Emmett, and he was going to bust in here and see me naked". I admitted, laughing.

"Don't worry, love." Edward kissed my forehead.

"Alright, I should get ready before Alice really does come in here". I laughed, and slipped out of bed, and padded into the bathroom, where I had left my suitcase last night. I pulled on my black swimsuit, which was the sexiest, in my opinion (A/N: Bella's bathing suits are on my profile). It was a tankini, so I felt more comfortable in it than the other two revealing bikini's. I wanted to save those for when it was just Edward and I. There was a small pool on the deck behind our villa. The tankini acted as a push up bra, and had a plunging neckline. It made my breasts look much bigger than they actually were. I pulled on a white tank top and a blue jersey skirt over my suit, and slipped on a pair of black flip flops. When I emerged from the bathroom, Edward was in a pair of black board shorts, and pulling on a white t-shirt.

When we left the room, I braced myself, but no one made an inappropriate jokes. I wonder how much Edward had bribed them, but when I looked over at him, he seemed to be just as surprised as I was. Alice had left out some of breakfast, and Edward and I ate quickly, as Alice was bouncing up and down next to us, rushing us, so that we could get to the pool. Rosalie and Emmett were quiet, and she was sitting on his lap. Jasper had his head on the table, a coffee cup in his hands. I laughed.

"So how hung over are all of you?" I asked, laughing.

"How was the sex last night?" Jasper asked, mumbling into the table.

"Touché", I laughed, dropping the subject.

Edward and I finished eating, and we all hopped onto the shuttle to take us to the main pool. It was a beautiful area by the main resort. There were six or seven pools in the vicinity, and we found a group of lawn chairs in a quiet corner by the shade. The boys went to go get drinks, and Alice and Rosalie sat on the chair next to me, facing me.

"Details in 2 minutes." Rose said, keeping her eye on the boys at the bar. I giggled.

"So amazing." I said, simply. There really weren't words to describe last night.

"I said details, Bella". Rose snapped.

"Alright, after you left, we danced, he sang "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge, told me he loved me" they "aw'd and tilted their heads together when I said that. I heard Alice whisper "finally", but they let me continue the story, as the boys were ordering drinks now. "And then, I changed into my lingerie, thanks by the way", I told them, winking. They nodded, and said "you're welcome", urging me to continue quickly. "And then, we made love, and it was totally perfect. He was wonderful and kind…" I trailed off as Rosalie shook her head ever so slightly, indicating that the boys were coming back over.

**Edward's POV**

I couldn't even control my smile today. Last night, I got everything I ever wanted that I never knew to ask for. With Bella, it wasn't about the sex. It was about intimacy. I'd never experienced that with another person. I'd never felt closer to another person in my entire life, or felt more love for anyone else. I was overflowing with it, and I could tell Jasper and Emmett wanted to know what happened. We volunteered to get drinks, and as soon as we were out of earshot of the girls, Emmett spoke.

"Alright, just so you know, the only reason I didn't make sex jokes was because you and Bella were there for me big time the other day. But that doesn't mean I don't want to hear how it went." He told me. So that was why he hadn't made any jokes about my sex life this morning. I was thankful for it; I didn't want Bella to feel anything other than bliss.

"Thank you for that, Emmett." I said sincerely.

"Now spill," Jasper said, "We only have a few minutes".

"Alright, fine. But this conversation leaves the three of us, I will kill you, and sell your body parts for cash" (A/N:I stole that from an episode of Grey's Anatomy), I threatened. I didn't want this to turn into locker room talk. I didn't want to kiss and tell about Bella. I sang to her, and then told her I loved her, and then…well, I'm sure you can use your imaginations to fill in the blanks". I said, simply. The both rolled their eyes. "Look guys, I know you want the juicy details, but Bella is different. I don't want to disrespect her like that. We didn't have _sex_ last night, it was a whole new level of intimacy I've never experienced before". When I said this, they both nodded in understanding.

"Look Edward," Emmett said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I know you think I'm a perv, but I do actually know what you're talking about. I've experienced that with Rose, and as a brother, I'm very glad you've found that." As soon as he said this he coughed. "Now, either of you repeat that to anyone, I'll kill you". We laughed.

"I'm glad to see this change in you, Edward." Jasper said, simply. I was glad he didn't want to share details about his relationship with my sister. Alice and I were close, but I couldn't hear about that part of her life. They dropped it, as we had drinks and were making our way back to the girls.

**Bella's POV:**

Edward took the lawn chair next to me, handing me a red plastic cup. I set it on the table next to me, and put a towel down on top of the chair, and sat back down. I pulled off my clothes, leaving me in just my swimsuit. Once again, Edward's jaw dropped when he caught sight of the swimsuit. I was glad Rose and Alice had talked me into getting waxed before coming too. The rest of the afternoon, I don't think Edward's eyes left my bust line. Alice and Rose tried desperately to hold back their laughter.

**Wednesday March 24****th****, 2009-Bella's POV**

Yesterday, it rained so bad we were stuck in the villa playing cards. Carlisle and Esme came over, and we had dinner together. Tonight, however, was the big night. We were leaving on Friday morning, and Emmett wanted one day in Greece engaged. He and Rose were going to spend a day alone in Athens on Thursday. Edward and I were in our room, getting ready.

I got out of the shower, dried off, wrapped a towel around my dripping hair, and then slipped into my blue silk robe. As I was putting on my makeup, there was a knock at the door.

"Alice, I told you! I'm a big girl. I can do my make up all by myself!" I yelled through the door. I heard Edward laugh on the other side of the door, and then walk in, and shut the door behind him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were Alice." I giggled, and he stood behind me, pulling me against his chest. I smiled, and set down my makeup brush. He pushed my hair out of the way, and began kissing my neck. His hands fumbled with the tie on my knot, and the next thing I knew, the robe was in a pool at my feet along with the towel that used to be on my head. Edward's hand moved to my breasts, and then one hand trailed down my stomach. When he got to my belly button, I snapped out of it, and grabbed his hand.

"Edward, we can't. We cannot be late to this dinner. He groaned into my neck, and started the shower. I grabbed the robe off the floor, and wrapped it back around me. Once I realized that the water in the shower was running cold, I grabbed my stuff, and took it back into the bedroom. I ran back in to grab my dress that was hanging on the back of the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Edward cried from the shower. I laughed.

"I don't think I need to be in here for this". I said, shutting the bathroom door behind me. I heard him chuckle from inside the bathroom. I had finished my makeup at the vanity in the bedroom when Edward stepped out of the bathroom with a towel loosely around his waist.

"Feel better?" I asked him, smiling. He smiled back, and kissed the top of my head.

"Yes, thank you." He went to start getting dressed, and I went back into the bathroom to blow dry my hair. When I came back out, Edward was sitting in his boxers, cross legged, in front of my suitcase, holding one of my bras.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" I snapped. I wasn't really mad, just surprised. He smiled.

"When do I get to see some of this on you?" he asked raising an eyebrow. I snatched the bra from his hands and threw it back into the suitcase.

"What makes you think that I bought _any_ of this with the intention of letting you see it?" I raised my eyebrows at _him_ now.

"You don't buy bras and panties like this if you don't want someone to see them". He pointed out. Damn it. He had a point. I dropped it and rolled my eyes at him. I pushed him out of the way, and pulled out a strapless white bra, and lacy white boyshorts. Just for the little stunt he pulled, I shrugged out of my robe in front of him, and slipped into my lacy panties, and fastened my bra right in front of him. He just stared at me. I winked at him, and grabbed the dress that was lying on the bed, and stepped into it.

"Edward? Can you close your mouth and zip me up?" I asked, turning so he could zip up the back of my dress. The dress was strapless and white. The bodice of the dress was fitted and clung to my torso, and the skirt was asymmetrical and flowing (A/N: the link to the picture of the dress is on my profile). He nodded, and zipped me up quickly.

"You're going to be sorry for that later." He said, kissing my shoulder. I laughed.

"Aren't you and Jazz supposed to be finishing up the beach decorations?" I reminded him, seeing that the sun was setting outside. He nodded.

"Yeah, five minutes. What should I wear?" He asked me, looking at the clothes scattered on the bed. I smiled. "Did Alice not conference with you about what to wear?" I asked. He shook his head, and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his body. He kissed my neck again.

"Um…I say black dress pants and a white button up." I said, checking the clock next to the bed. Edward nodded, and pulled on the pants and shirt. He was buttoning his shirt when there was a light knock at the door.

"Come in" I called. Alice walked in.

"Aw, I approve!" she squealed, giving Edward and I the once over. Then she turned to Edward.

"You and Jazz should get going now if you're going to light all those candles". She told him, and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. He cupped one hand on the back of my neck, and the other wrapped around my waist, pressing me to his body, and he kissed me passionately. His tongue trailed along my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth. Just as our kiss was starting to get good, Jazz banged on the door. Edward groaned, and kissed me again.

"In case I haven't told you, you look absolutely stunning, Bella. I love you". He told me.

"I love you too. You look pretty good yourself." I told him as he winked at me and left with Jasper. Alice helped me put a few finishing touches on my make up and hair, and then we went to Emmett and Rose's room. Emmett had left about an hour ago to make sure things on the beach were all set up. This time, Alice, Jasper, Edward and I would be the ones staying out all night. Rose was fixing her hair in her bathroom, completely calm. (A/N: Alice and Rosalie's dresses are on my profile)

"Hey girls!" She said, without even a hint of nervousness. Maybe she didn't know it was happening tonight? I mean, she knew it would happen sometime on this trip, she just didn't know when. She rolled her eyes at us.

"Seriously, you two. I know my boyfriend too well. He's nervous. I know he's proposing tonight. You can drop the innocent faces." She laughed, curling a long strand of blonde hair around the curling iron. Alice and I laughed, and leaned against the bathroom counter.

"So are you nervous?" I asked her, surprised she was so calm. She laughed.

"What do I have to be nervous about? I'm not the one doing the asking, and I know my answer". She shrugged. If our places were turned, I'd be scared out of my mind, though she had a point.

As far as I was aware, Carlisle and Esme still had no idea about the proposal. We arrived at dinner, and I think at that moment, when we sat down on the deck that was situated on the beach, Carlisle suspected something. He looked from face to face, and set his menu back on the table.

"Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on? Why do you all look so nervous?" He demanded, and Emmett gave Edward a panicked glance pleading for help. Poor Emmett thought Rose had no idea about any of this. I almost wanted to put him out of his misery and tell him, but I didn't.

"Dad, you're being paranoid. Calm down, nothing's wrong". Edward insisted, although Edward's facial expression said "shut the hell up". Carlisle dropped it. Dinner went well, we told jokes, and talked about our favorite parts of the trip. I loved everything about Greece. I would move here tomorrow if I could. Then, Emmett stood, and reached for Rosalie's hand.

"Want to take a walk with me, baby?" He asked, smiling sweetly at her. She nodded, and took his hand. He led her down the stairs, and her hand went to her throat as she saw the candles that led down the staircase and onto the beach, and then they disappeared.

"Alright, what the hell is going on?" Carlisle demanded, once again. It was then that I saw Alice and I were holding the arms of our boyfriends, looking at Emmett and Rose with awed expressions.

"Please drop it dad," Alice insisted. "Don't ruin this". Carlisle was still confused, but took another sip of his wine. It was then that we all heard Rosalie scream "yes". Understanding washed across Esme's face and tears sprung into her eyes. Her hand flew to her chest, as Rose's had when she saw the path of candles. It was only then that Carlisle comprehended what was going on, and wrapped an arm around his wife.

"So that's why you kids insisted on this family vacation". Carlisle realized. Edward and Alice nodded.

"And that's why Bella and I had to fly home. Emmett forgot the ring at home". Edward told him. Alice, not having the pleasure of hearing this story before, choked on her food. Just then, Rosalie and Emmett ran back up the stairs and to our table.

"We're engaged!" They exclaimed, and all screamed in excitement.

Rose and Emmett were "tired" shortly after, and excused themselves to the villa. I was amazed at the way the Cullen kids helped each other have "alone" time with their significant others. Alice, Jasper, Edward and I headed to the pool and bar. Alice had stashed a bag with bathing suits in Carlisle and Esme's room, so we changed there quickly. I put pulled on a pair of khaki shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt over my red bikini (A/N: pic of suit on profile). Edward and I held hands, walking behind Jasper and Alice, out to the pool. We found chairs around a patio table nearby the pool, and ordered drinks. Edward and I told the "Emmett forgot the ring" story from the beginning, and believe it or not, it's much funnier with alcohol. We finally stumbled back into the villa around 4am.

The next morning, we all were having breakfast together, and then Emmett and Rosalie were going off on their own. I didn't have a hangover the next morning, and for that I was grateful. I pulled on a casual white sundress, and Edward put on a black t-shirt and jeans. We met the rest of the family at the main resort's restaurant. They had mimosa's waiting. Carlisle raised his glass.

"Alright, I'd like to make a toast to the newly engaged Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett, your mother and I are so proud at everything you've accomplished, and Rosalie, we are excited to officially make you part of the family". We all clinked our glasses together and sipped. Esme admired Rosalie's ring again.

"Oh, Emmett. You did a wonderful job! How did you pick out such a ring?" Esme asked.

"Oh, Edward helped, and so did Alice and Bella". He admitted. Rosalie pretended to have no idea.

"Girls?! You were involved in this? You two know me so well!" She said, running over to hug each of us. Alice and I giggled. _Now why couldn't I lie like that?!_

"It was our pleasure, Rose, we're just glad you liked it." (A/N: There's a link to the picture of her engagement ring on my profile as well).

"Alice, Bella, will you be my maids of honor?" Rosalie asked.

"I'd be honored!" I told her, getting out of my seat to hug her. Alice jumped up and joined us.

"Me too! Oh Rose we have so much to do! We have to find colors and dresses and tuxes and churches and…" Alice bounced up and down, rambling off things that she needed to organize and shop for. Rosalie groaned, and whispered in my ear.

"Should I have asked her to be my wedding coordinator instead?" She laughed.

"No, I think it would be worse if you had". I reassured her. Jasper had calmed Alice down, and she was sitting in her seat again. I went back over to sit by Edward, who took my hand under the table again.

As I was sitting at the table, surrounded by the Cullen's, it was then that I realized. I was home. These people were my family. I mean, I had Charlie and Renee, but I never felt at home with him like I did with the Cullen's. I'd always felt lonely, being an only child, and I was happier now than I'd ever been. My father was winning his battle with cancer, Renee was…well, Renee, my dear friends Emmett and Rosalie were engaged, Alice was the best friend a girl could ask for, Edward was amazing, and I was going to spend the rest of my life with him, I just knew it. It seemed that everyone knew it, but did he?

* * *

A/N: Review please? I am starting to work on the sequel, and I will put an Author's Note on here once it's posted. You can expect chapter one in day or so. But please let me know what you liked about this story. After all, if you didn't like this one, I don't want to go through all the work of a sequel if you don't want to read it. Thanks everyone for reading. I'm really proud of this story. Thanks to every single person that read, reviewed, alerted and favorited this story. It's been a blast to write.


	21. Sequel Announcement

First of all, just so you know, I am going back through All is Fair and making corrections. Some of you were kind enough to point out inconsistancies and mistakes to me, but there will be no changes to the story line, just story corrections. :) Thanks for doing that.

Alright guys. The first part of the sequel to this, called Just the Beginning, is up! Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews. Thank you for placing my stories on your alerts and favorite lists, I am overwhelmed by the response to All Is Fair in Love and War, and hope you'll like the sequel just as much. Right now, what's up isn't much, because I'm still outlining everything, but I wanted to give you a little update on your favorite characters.

Secondly, I am looking for someone to help me write a few lemons for the sequel. Let me know if you're interested. :)

Thanks again for reading being patient!


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